Phantom Reality
by Azure129
Summary: The Disasteroid is gone, Vlad is a space nomad, and our favorite halfa is the hero of the world. But is this 'happily ever after' or just the start of Danny's biggest adventure yet? And will he be strong enough to face what and who the future might hold?
1. If I Could Turn Back Time

**A/N:**

Hello Danny Phantom fandom :) My name is **Azure129** and this is my first time writing a DP fic! However, I am a HUGE fan of the show!!! Anyway,** this is a story set just after Phantom Plane****t** and is going involve a lot of crazy and dramatic things, the return of several familiar characters, and a very big adventure for our favorite halfa. I'm a little nervous about doing this fic as I've only ever written fanfiction for Hey Arnold! before (a shout out to all my readers from that fandom who might be checking this out, especially **DP-shrine-in-closet-girl**, who's recent review of one of my other stories kind of inspired me to finally get this fic up and running :) ). Anyway, I'm just hoping that I've managed to keep everything in character and that I can keep up with this show's crazy and sometimes ambiguous canon, lol.

Okay, so, without further ado, please enjoy the beginning of…

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 1:**

**If I Could Turn Back Time…**

**

* * *

**

"Mmm, Ughhh…" A certain dark haired halfa tossed and turned in his bed, a dream vaguely floating around in his mind.

He was in a dark place, and, though there were no signs to support it, he had a feeling that he was in the Ghost Zone. Strangely, though, he was also pretty sure that he was surrounded by a finite, small space. '_Weird…_' he thought to himself.

Finally, Danny also sensed that he was in his ghost form right now, though he couldn't remember having transformed.

Danny could feel himself breathing and wanted to say something, to ask for help or at least see if anyone else was around...but somehow (as is the case in most dreams) what he wanted his body to do just wasn't happening.

Suddenly he felt a distinct and familiar shiver rise from the center of his stomach and explode into his chest, escaping from his apparently open mouth. '_Ghost sense? But who else is_…'

His thought was stopped as he heard a low vibration… '_An earthquake?_' No something about it seemed more…human…'_Or inhuman…_' he added silently to himself.

Some vaguely familiar jarring sound suddenly began to pull Danny from what he half-realized must be a dream. Just as he escaped from the strange images and sensations of his sleeping mind, though, a thought about that low vibration he had felt pulsing around him occurred to him, though he would not remember upon opening his eyes. '_It's almost like a…laugh_?'

* * *

"BEWAAAAAAAAAARE!!!"

"HUH?!?! What the…?!?!" Danny Fenton sat straight up in his bed, breathing heavily, his dark hair a mess. The sunlight shining in through his window told him it was morning.

"I SAID BEWAAAAAAARE!!! For I, the BOX GHOST, have come with a surprise attack to destroy you in your sleep!!!" The bluish specter raised his arms and an object flew off of Danny's desk and hovered likewise over his bed. "Now, prepare to be VANQUISHED by your own ordinary pencil box—now a PENCIL BOX OF _DOOM_!!!"

"I'm _Going_ _Ghost_!" And, after uttering his signature battle cry, Danny Fenton transformed into Danny Phantom and hovered above his bed on level with the Box Ghost.

Danny let out a frustrated sigh and scowled at the ghost before him, crossing his arms over his chest. "Shouldn't Pandora be punishing you for a few hundred more years for taking her box?"

The Box Ghost took a break from his spooky voice to explain. "Well, she _did_ have me doing all of that yard work and stuff, but after a couple of weeks she kicked me out." His spooky voice returned. "I guess I just got too SCARY for her, WOOOO!!!!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, too _annoying's_ more like it. Well, prepare for a little reunion because you're going right back to the Ghost Zone where you belong!"

"That is what you thi—" But before he could finish his sentence, Danny had pulled a Fenton Thermos off of his nightstand and sucked the comic relief Box Ghost inside.

Danny Phantom smiled to himself. "Ha! And next time you're planning a 'surprise attack' maybe you should try NOT waking me up first so I can kick your butt."

Danny landed on the floor and tossed the thermos onto his bed.

Suddenly, his door opened…

"Danny, honey, are you okay? I thought I heard someone yelling and—" Maddie Fenton stopped in mid-sentence as she saw her son standing there in Phantom form looking at her with a surprised expression.

"Uh…" He glanced almost in panic around the room quickly, and then tried to respond to her in a deep voice—the one he had always used to disguise his real voice whenever communicating with his parents while in Phantom form. "Sorry, citizen, I was just uh…"

He looked at his mom who was biting her lower lip, a half smile on her face. He sighed and resumed his normal voice, smiling back at her. "The Disasteroid thing wasn't a dream, was it?"

Maddie walked into the room. "Danny, this is the third morning in a row that you've asked me that. No, it was not a dream."

Danny sighed and transformed back to his human form. "Sorry—old habits…" he replied, referring to his former need to keep his identity a secret.

Though Maddie had known about her son being the ghost boy for several days now, her eyes still couldn't help going wide as she watched him change forms. _'Amazing_…' she thought to herself, '_the ability for human and spectral DNA to coexist in a single being doesn't seem possible…'_ She had been meaning to ask her son how, exactly, he changed forms—just one of the many questions she had wanted to know the answer to ever since the Disasteroid had nearly struck and everyone had discovered that he was the ghost boy. However, she stopped herself as usual, not wanting to make him feel like one of her ectoplasmic experiments.

Maddie just smiled and headed toward the door. "Well, Danny, breakfast is ready downstairs if you're hungry."

"Thanks Mom." Danny approached one of his dresser drawers. "I'll be down in a minute. Did you seal up the shades?" He glanced back.

"Yes Danny…"

"Lock the doors?"

"Yes Danny…"

"Take the phones off the hook?"

"Yes Danny…" She stopped attempting to return back downstairs and instead turned to look back to her son, smiling with concern.

He sifted through a couple of the dresser drawers, pulling out a few pieces of clothing and tossing them onto his bed. "Thanks, Mom. I'll set up a force field around the kitchen just to make sure they stay away."

Maddie sighed. "Danny…" He turned around to look at her, closing the drawers. She continued, a genuinely concerned tone in her voice and a genuinely concerned look in her eyes. "Are you sure you don't want your father and I to talk to the press for you?"

Though everything had seemed to be perfect following Danny's heroic rescue of the earth from certain destruction by the Disasteroid, he had quickly learned that the aftermath of having everyone know his secret was even more difficult than organizing every ghost in the Ghost Zone to turn the earth intangible had been.

Not that Danny Fenton/Phantom wasn't glad for the newfound appreciation he was getting ('_It beats being 'Public Ghost Enemy No. 1,'_ he kept thinking to himself) but, still, the attention was a little much. Every reporter wanted a story from him, every agent a book and movie deal, and every person in town in general seemed willing to do anything for his autograph or even just a glimpse of him 'going ghost.'

Needless to say, this had all led to the family having to take certain precautions to keep their lives from becoming a public spectacle; a development Danny couldn't help but feel guilty about putting his family through. Not that they hadn't been very willing and supportive about dealing with the papparatzi, but he knew he had to make the media circus stop soon before it got too out of hand.

Danny smiled at his worried mother and threw his clothes for the day onto his bed. "Don't worry, Mom…Tucker and Sam and I have been talking, and I think it might be better if I do it myself." Danny didn't want to mention that it was also a little embarrassing having your Mom hold a televised event where she asked people to 'leave her little boy alone,' though the thought was definitely a factor in his decision.

Maddie stepped forward and hugged her son, and then headed for the door again.

"Mom?"

She turned around once more.

"Uh, two things…" Danny picked up the full Thermos on his bed and tossed it to her, "Do you think you could throw what's in there into the Ghost Portal for me…you know, before Dad finds out?"

Maddie nodded, recalling how the last two ghosts Danny had captured Jack had insisted on throwing into the Ghost Zone himself (when Skulker had said that the truce was over as soon as the earth and Ghost Zone were safe, apparently he had meant it!). Despite his good intentions, though, somehow Jack had not only managed to let both Ember and the Lunch Lady free on both of those occasions, but he had nearly destroyed the house and the Fenton RV in the process until, between Danny's powers and a few choice Fenton inventions, the two had managed to return the ghosts to their thermoses.

"Who was it this time?" Maddie asked, referring to the occupant of the container she currently held in her hand.

"The Box Ghost…" Danny replied casually. "Don't worry—he's harmless except for his ability to _annoy_ people to death." Danny laughed to himself at his joke, and then smiled at Maddie. "I just don't want to have to deal with him getting out and bugging me all day at school."

Maddie nodded at her son. "And the second thing?" she asked, putting the thermos into her utility belt.

Danny walked toward her and said in a very sincere voice, "Well I just…" he glanced downward, "Wanted to thank you…again…I mean for…you know, NOT getting incredibly angry that I've been lying to you this whole time…and for even trying to help me with ghost fighting. It means a lot to me." He smiled up at her.

"Danny," she knelt down a bit, smiling, "your father and I will always love you and we'll always support you, no matter what."

Danny smiled to himself. "I know."

"Oh, Danny…" So happy that there were finally no more lies between them after all these months, Maddie suddenly decided to hug her son as another show of her support for him.

"OW!" Danny yelled, and pushed away from her.

Maddie stood up, her eyes wide with concern. "Danny?!"

Danny sat on his bed, his hair a little frazzled looking all of a sudden. He shook his head for a second to clear it, and then looked back at his mother as though searching for something on her person. He raised an eyebrow, though, as, it appeared, he couldn't locate what he was expecting to see. "You're not wearing the specter deflector?"

Maddie blinked and reached into her pocket. "Well, actually, I've been working on these new ring size models for Tucker and Sam, so that they'll be safe if they're around when you're fighting a gho—" Suddenly, Maddie stopped as she realized why Danny had just pushed away from her. "Oh Danny, sweetie, I'm sorry I—"

Danny stood up, feeling a bit better despite the small shock he had just received from the miniature specter deflectors. "It's okay—just…deactivate them and I'll bring them to school for Tucker and Sam."

Maddie nodded and twisted each of the rings, shutting them off. She looked at her son inquisitively and couldn't help but ask, "It hurts you even when you're not the ghost?"

Danny shrugged. "It hurts more when I'm Danny Phantom, but when I'm human it definitely still gives me a shock…You might want to look into increasing the power of those things, by the way—the belt specter deflector hurts a lot more." He suddenly remember that he was talking to his (already overly-concerned-for-his-safety) _mother_ and that, with all this talk of the Specter Deflector, she might end up recalling that she had hugged him with it on several occasions right after it was invented during their trip to Wisconsin as part of one of Vlad Plasmius' crazy schemes to win her and Danny over to 'the dark side.' "I mean," Danny tried to backpedal a bit, "It's not excruciating or anything…kind of like a really strong static shock." He tried his best to smile at her in the hopes that she would buy that something with enough power to slightly fry his hair and send him pushing away from her really hurt his body so little.

"Oh Danny, I really am sorry…" Despite Danny's efforts, Maddie knew when her son was just trying to make her feel better. She looked at him with a mixture of concern and guilt in her eyes, and glanced downward. "This is all going to take a little time to get used to, isn't it?"

Danny laughed to himself, trying to lighten the moment. "Hey, just be glad you didn't wake up more morning and start turning intangible without any warning. Now _that_ takes some getting used to!"

Maddie smiled and actually almost laughed at the comment, very proud of her son who had managed to handle such a big responsibility by himself for so long, and who now seemed to be doing just as well with it all even though his secret out. She headed for the doorway once more. "Well, I'll just go put _this_," she held up the Thermos still in one of her hands, "back in the Ghost Zone." She opened the door and stepped out, but not before popping her head back in one last time. "And, Danny?"

"Yeah?" Danny grabbing the clothes he had chosen from his bed.

"We're all really proud of you." She winked and the two shared a smile, and then Maddie finally headed downstairs.

* * *

Danny quickly dressed and brushed his teeth and hair in preparation for school. Now, he glanced around his room, which he had just reentered. "Now to put up that force field and keep the camera crews out!" He transformed into the Phantom and turned intangible, then phased through the wall and outside.

Around the perimeter of the kitchen he could see reporters and fans lined up all along the three walls of the room the Fentons would most likely be in during breakfast time. He rolled his eyes. '_Here we go again…_'

Danny concentrated as hard as he could and suddenly he had an invisible double by his side. The double turned visible and flew up the street. "Hey guys!!!" It called to the ogglers who turned to see what they thought was the ghost boy above them. "Phantom going to school!" it shouted. "Who wants _exclusive_ _photos_?!?!"

Instantly, the entire mob ran toward the Danny-double, who flew through the neighborhood. Danny laughed to himself. '_It was __so__ worth all of the practice time to figure out that power_.'

His plan working, Danny flew down to the level of the kitchen and put up an ecto force field around the room's outer perimeter before completely phasing through the wall and finding himself back inside of his house.

At the table, his father and sister were just sitting down to breakfast. Danny landed in his usual seat, turned visible, and then transformed back to Danny Fenton, causing Jack Fenton to squirt chocolate milk out of his nose and onto his daughter in surprise.

"Danny! Or should I say _Danny_?" He pumped his eyebrows up and down a couple of times and gave his son a joking elbow across the table. Danny rolled his eyes: his father had been stuck on that joke ever since he had used it after the Disasteroid incident.

"Just 'Danny' will be fine, Dad." Danny smiled to himself and pulled a box of cereal closer to his place setting.

"Ugh, DAD!" yelled Jazz, a scowl on her face and brown milk dripping from her hair.

Jack noticed the mess he had made of his daughter. "Oh, sorry, Jazzy-pants! It's just that I still can't get used to your brother suddenly appearing like that. I've gotta get the Fenton Ghost Finder out of moth balls and start keeping it with me so that I can have fair warning…" Jazz just rolled her eyes and went over to the sink to clean herself off. Suddenly, Jack's eyes lit up like he had an idea, and he smiled at his son. "Hey, Danny," he began, turning his attention back to his son, "Would you like me to come up with a pocket-sized version of one of those for you? It could be really helpful knowing there's a ghost around before you see it!"

Ever since he had found out Danny's secret three days ago, Jack had been trying to help his son's hero mission in any way possible. Unloading the Fenton Thermoses was just a start: his real passion, though, was trying to make a device that could assist Danny despite his already awesome halfa powers.

Danny sighed, feeling bad about having to dash his father's hopes again. "Sorry, Dad, I don't need it. I've got a ghost sense of my own."

"Really?" Jack seemed intrigued. "You mean you can tell when other ghosts are around? How?"

Danny poured some milk into his bowl along with the cereal he had already placed inside, and grabbed his spoon. "Well, this ghost I know, Frostbite, explained the details of it to me one day, but, basically, my breath gets cold and I start to get chills whenever another ghost is around."

"Hmm…" Jack took out a small notebook he had starting using to keep notes about the progress of his son's abilities. "A temperature gage for detecting ghosts?" he mumbled under his breath. "Could be an interesting addition to the Ghost Finder…or the BooooMerang…" He walked off, writing down more ideas.

Danny turned to his sister who had just returned from a brief trip to the sink where she had managed to wash all of the milk out of her hair. "Hey, Jazz, you think you could give me a ride to school?"

Jasmine Fenton smiled at her little brother who sat just swirling the contents of his cereal bowl around, a somewhat listless look on his face. "Sure, Danny—but, you know, they're not going to leave you alone just because you're with me…" She was, of course, referring to the paparazzi outside. "You need to sit down and talk to those reporters and everyone in town before things get out of hand."

Danny's face fell a bit. "I know, I know…it's just that all of this flying and force fields has been wearing me out for the last three days and I don't think I could handle a full blown press conference right now." He smiled, glancing at his sister. "I mean, I feel like all a ghost would have to do is _look at me funny_ and I'd pass out," Danny joked, referring to how he usually fainted when a ghost's power overwhelmed him. He sighed and tried to eat a bite or two of his breakfast. "I'll explain things to them this weekend… but, right now, I really just need one morning free from a bunch of ghost maneuvering through Amity Park." He smiled at Jazz. "They already think I flew to school, though, so they won't be looking for me to be with you."

"Alright, Danny," Jazz smiled understandingly. "But we better leave soon before they figure out that you ditched them…" She grabbed her plate and put it into the sink. "Do Tucker and Sam need a ride too?"

Danny smiled to himself, chuckling slightly. "No, thanks. Actually, they've come up with some pretty creative ways of avoiding the media frenzy themselves…"

* * *

Meanwhile, across town, Tucker was putting the finishing touches on something. He smiled to himself as he stepped back to enjoy his handiwork. "You are one _handsome_ _looking_ decoy, if I do say so myself. I can't believe Mr. and Mrs. Fenton just left you behind after the Disasteroid almost crashed…"

Standing in front of Tucker was the Tuckbot, in full Tucker outfit.

Tucker opened his front door. "Now go get 'em!" he yelled, pushing the robot outside.

"Hello. I-am-Tucker. Please-take-pictures-of-me," yelled the Tuckbot mechanically. Instantly, all of the reporters surrounded the robot.

Tucker, meanwhile, smiled to himself and went out the back door. "Suckers…" He dropped his PDA on the ground and hit a button on the side with his foot. It suddenly expanded horizontally, and then grew wheels and a small rocket engine on the back. Tucker hopped on and started zooming to Casper High using the back ways. "I knew I'd figure out Vlad's way of making Valerie's transporter boards so compact…Take _that,_ Dalv Industries!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at another house across town…

Sam Manson grabbed her backpack and headed toward her front door. "Bye Mom, bye Dad!"

"Bye sweetie!" the Manson parents called to their daughter.

"Okay guys, you know the drill!" Sam yelled when she got out onto her stoop. Instantly, ten hired girls dressed in Sam Mason outfits appeared at her side. The group of them walked to ten identical limos, one for each girl.

As the girls approached the cars, Sam could hear the questions of reporters being flung at them as they forced their way through the crowd.

"Ms. Manson, Ms. Manson, how long did you know that Danny Fenton was Danny Phantom?"

"Ms. Manson, what does it feel like to be dating the hero of the world?"

"Ms. Manson, Ms. Manson, why did Mr. Fenton change his name from Inviso-Bill to Danny Phantom?"

Sam rolled her eyes at this last question, but couldn't help also blushing at the mention of the second one. Her and Danny would have been an item for one full week this Monday, and she couldn't wait for the anniversary…Girly things like that usually didn't appeal to her, of course, but she was so happy that her and Danny were finally together that she didn't care how much her enthusiasm cramped her Goth style.

Sam sat down in her own limo and sighed, a grin still on her face. "Well, this might not stop them from harassing me at school, but at least it'll take them off the scent so that I can get there without driving through a sea cameras." The car started up and she addressed the driver, "Alright, Jenkins, let's hit it!"

"Right away, _Miss Manson_!" The driver turned to face her, winking.

Sam blinked and her grin widened as she saw who was actually up in the driver seat wearing the black cap and jacket. "_Grandma_?!"

"If anyone's gonna see to it that my Granddaughter gets safely to school, it's gonna be me!" The old woman laughed.

Sam laughed as well. "Alright, Grandma! Punch it!"

And with that, Sam's limo as well as the nine decoys were off into the Amity Park streets.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Fenton kitchen…

Danny stood up and put his bowl in the sink just as both of his parents entered the kitchen.

"Maddie!" Jack turned to his wife. "Did you know that Danny has a ghost sense of his own?"

Maddie blinked. "Really, Danny? You didn't tell us that?"

"Well, come on, Danny…" Jack said, putting an arm over his son's shoulder, "Let's see it in action!"

Danny blushed slightly, not liking suddenly being the center of attention even if it _was_ with just his parents. He was glad that they were proud of him for being the ghost boy, but, at the same time, the idea of suddenly showing off his powers to them when he had spent months keeping them a complete secret still felt a little weird to him.

"Well," he started, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, "I can't really do a 'demonstration'…my breath only gets cold whenever another ghost is aro—" Suddenly, Danny felt the familiar chill grow from his chest to his mouth. His body shivered.

"Hey, that was pretty good, son!" Jack Fenton smiled.

Danny turned to him, a serious look in his eyes. "Dad, that wasn't a demonstration…there really is a ghost here…"

Danny transformed into the Phantom and looked skeptically around the room. At the back of his mind, Danny couldn't help but hope that the Box Ghost had escaped when his mother wasn't looking, or something. Somehow, though, he felt like something stronger was here… '_Maybe my ghost sense is evolving so that I can sense power levels too…_?' he thought to himself as he floated around a bit, gazing about warily.

The kitchen appearing clear, he flew into the living room. Not seeing anything there either, he became intangible and floated upward, popping his head through the ceiling for a quick check upstairs. Everything appearing fine up there, he decided to head to the basement. '_After all, if I'm looking for a ghost who just arrived at my house, chances are checking out the only room with a ghost portal in it is probably a safe bet_.'

Still intangible, he floated back down through the living room and then through the floor to the basement. Danny landed on the floor of the lab and went tangible again. He glanced around at the empty and quiet room. "Hmm…nothing. Maybe it left?" He turned to the control panel in the laboratory. "I guess it couldn't hurt to put up the ghost shield just in case…"

Danny went to push the button but was suddenly knocked to his feet by something very heavy! Smoke from the table of chemicals in test tubes (which were now shattered everywhere and mixing together) that he had been slammed into rose around him, and he could feel that a good dent had been dug into the floor underneath his body. The last glance he'd gotten of the room before ending up completely flattened on the ground had shown him, to his surprise, that the Ghost Portal had been opened.

Hearing the commotion in the basement, Jack, Maddie and Jazz all ran down the stairs.

"Danny?!" yelled Maddie from the top of the staircase she was currently running down with the two other members of her family.

"Danny, what's going on? Are you okay?" called out Jack, right behind her.

Suddenly, the three reached the bottom of the stairs and finally saw the large ghost currently atop a very discheveled looking Danny Phantom.

Jack glared at the intruder. "You stay away from my son!!!" he yelled to the specter, pulling out the only weapon he had on him (the Jack o' Ninetails) and spinning it high above his head.

Danny sat up at the sound of his father, feeling a bit woozy and dizzy to say the least. "Wh-what?" It took a second for him to focus his eyes and see clearly what exactly had hit him. Upon recognizing the large bluish being, his eyes widened considerably.

"Back to Ghost Zone where you belong you putrid pile of ectoplasmic energy!" shouted Jack, running at the ghost that, to him, seemed to be trying to attack his son.

Danny instantly pulled himself out from under the ghost and flew up, blocking his father's path. "No, Dad, _stop_! He's _not_ attacking me!"

Jack halted at sight of his son suddenly defending the ghost upon the floor, though he couldn't help still glaring at the strange ghost. "Danny, what are you talking about? Look at what he did to the lab? And to you?" He motioned to the few scuffmarks Danny had on his suit, and a bruise forming near his chin.

"Dad, _listen_!" Danny began, trying to be as patient as possible, but finding it hard to hide the panic in his voice about what had just happened and how close his father had just come to hurting one of Danny's few ghost friends (and one who already seemed severely injured.) Danny took a deep breath and tried to speak calmly and firmly as he continued. "This is a _good_ ghost. Remember how I explained to you and Mom that there are _good_ ghosts and _bad_ ghosts just like there are good and bad people?" Danny folded his arms in front of his chest and gave a determined look to his father.

Jack closed the ninetails and put it away. "Yes…" he said in a defeated and stubborn voice. Old ghost prejudices die hard.

"Danny, who is this?" his mother asked curiously, approaching the passed out being on the floor who seem to be…aging before her eyes? A fact that caused her to pause and even to take a step back from him.

Danny landed and motioned to the ghost on the floor. "This is Clockwork, and if something's hurt him then it _can't_ be good news."

Danny knelt down beside the now child-seeming ghost and did his best to sit him up. "Clockwork? _Clockwork_? Are you okay?" Danny looked genuinely concerned. Jazz's face took on a similar look, and eventually his parents adopted the same expression.

Slowly, Clockwork opened his eyes. "Danny…"

"Clockwork, I'm right here. What's wrong?" asked Danny, a serious touch of worry in his voice.

Clockwork looked at him, growing older as he spoke. "Help…" And with that he passed out, leaving a very bewildered Danny Phantom holding him in his arms.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 1!!! Sorry for the Cliffie, but I'll try and have Chapter 2 up asap (it's already written along with Chapters 3 and 4—they just need some grammar edits and, of course, some serious fact checking since, once again, this show's canon is crazy!!!)

R & R please, and, of course, Happy Reading!!!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


	2. Expected and Unexpected Encounters,Part1

**A/N:**

Hey DP Phandom!!! Okay, so here's chapter 2 of this fic of mine that I've finally gotten around to posting, lol. For anyone used to my ridiculously long chapters with HA! stuff, I'm going to try and keep things a little mellower in terms of length with this story, so this one shouldn't be too bad :) Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far!!! Comments are always appreciated and they tend to inspire me a lot too, lol.

Okay, so, without further rambling from me…

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 2:**

**Expected and Unexpected Encounters, Part 1**

**

* * *

**

"Danny, what was that you said about the reporters following _your double_ to school instead of _you_?"

Danny sighed. He and Jazz were currently stuck in the middle of an unmoving media traffic jam on their way to Casper High. News cars, eager fans, and even helicopters surrounded Jazz's car: it had been twenty minutes and the two teens hadn't even gotten off their street yet.

"Don't you all have _lives and jobs…_that are about something other than ME?!" Danny suddenly shouted at the crowd, though the comment couldn't be heard over the sea of questions bombarding him.

Defeated, he sunk down low in the shotgun seat and sighed to himself once more, rubbing his temples. "I really need to work on making those doubles stronger so that they last long enough to get to school…" Danny had finally mastered _making_ the clones, but keeping them stable for long distances and periods of time was something our beloved halfa was still working on.

Jazz finally just put her car in park and then shut it off in defeat: clearly, there was no point in anticipating any movement any time soon. She tried to smile encouragingly at her brother. "Well, looks like we'll have to walk it. They'll still be following us and we might be a little late, but at least we'll actually get to school."

Danny turned to his sister apologetically, a definite tone of guilt in his voice. "Look, Jazz, we both know it's me they're after, so I'll just fly to school." He transformed into the phantom, and continued explaining his plan. "That should get them away from your car so you can drive, and then maybe we can both make it to class on time." He smiled at her.

Rather than smiling back, though, Jazz put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with concern. "Danny, promise me that you're _really_ going to talk to them this weekend. All of this stalking isn't fair to you at all—not after everything you've done for this town and for the entire world."

"Sure, Jazz…" Danny sighed, still with a pang of guilt in his stomach at all of the trouble he felt like he was causing his sister and his family in general. "But, for now, let's just work on getting out of here—besides, the sooner we get to school, the sooner I can get home to check on Clockwork." With a determined look, he flew up out of the car so that he was overlooking the media circus that had flooded the street.

Danny (with just a touch of hesitation, though he didn't like to admit it) had left the still passed out time ghost in the care of his parents, who had promised to look after him until Danny got home and they could all work on figuring out what had happened to put Clockwork in such a state of injury, as well as in the basement of Fentonworks, of all places. Danny's aforementioned hesitation with this plan didn't come from the fact that he didn't trust his parents to help him out as their son, so much as he wasn't sure what would happen if Clockwork awoke early… Only having known about Danny's spectral powers for a couple of days, the older Fentons hadn't yet had the experience of encountering a ghost one-on-one and NOT trying to destroy it or put it back in the Ghost Zone. Having to suddenly look after one of the most powerful ghosts in existence as a guest in their home had the capacity to be…well…a bit of a disaster if anything went even slightly awry. '_The last thing I need is whatever totaled Clockwork showing up, and Dad deciding that they're working together or something to ambush Fentonworks, and then firing up the Emergency Ops Center to 'rip them apart molecule by molecule…_' '

Danny shook his head to remove these worries, and tried to focus on the task at hand. He flew up just a bit higher, a large, false smile on his face. "Hey guys!!!" he shouted to the crowd, which instantly turned its sights from Jazz's car to Danny Phantom in the flesh…or, rather, ectoplasm. "No more doubles," Danny continued, seeing that he had their attentions fully drawn, "this is the _one and only_ Danny Phantom ready to fly to school, and I can prove it!" He concentrated and produced a double along side him. "You see," he said, pointing to himself and then the clone, "the genuine article—not a cheap imitation." The clone instantly disappeared. "Now, _come on_!" he called in a challenging voice.

Danny flew off and, in an instant, his flock of admirers abandoned Jazz's car, leaving the street entirely deserted except for the very annoyed sixteen-year-old girl.

Jazz rolled her eyes and scowled as she turned the car back on and finally managed to pull out into the street. "This isn't Ghost Envy, it's _Ghost_ _Frenzy_!"

* * *

Danny flew a few streets ahead of his sister, well aware of the many people following in his wake. The reporters and news crews were pretty far behind him as they were on foot, but the helicopters were catching up to him, Danny noticed as he glanced backward; a fact he didn't like.

Suddenly, he felt himself crash into something hard. He bounced back from whatever it was, rubbing his head in confusion, his eyes closed. "Oh, what _now_?! Is the Box Ghost back to finish me off with the eraser and pencil sharpener of doom?"

Danny opened his eyes and instantly the scowl of pain annoyance them. Now, he swallowed hard as he took in the sight of the Guys in White floating right in front of him using jet packs and carrying _very big_ ecto guns.

Danny scowled again, feeling surprise give way to defensiveness and annoyance once more. "Look, you two, I've had a hard enough week as it is! I'm in no mood to be five minutes late to class and get detention just because I decided to take it easy on the both of you in a fight! So, get out of the way right now or I'm going to Ghostly Wail you into the biggest mud puddle you've ever seen!"

Much to Danny's confusion, though, the GIW didn't start charging their weapons and trying to chase him down. In fact, Danny noticed, the two men in white suits looked almost confused at his sudden outburst. They glanced to each other with raised eyebrows and then back to Danny. "What are you talking about, Ghost Boy?" said Agent O.

"Yeah," agreed Agent M, "We just wanted to know if…well if," he looked sheepish, "if you would…autograph our ectorays!!!" The two of them suddenly smiled in excitement and presented their guns to Danny.

Danny just floated there with a completely blank expression on his face. "Uh…come again?"

The GIW guys flew up beside him, still all smiles. "Well, our orders are no longer to capture you, Ghost Boy, and, to be honest…" Agent M started, glancing at his partner.

"…We always kind of thought you were pretty cool," Agent O added quickly, practically beaming at Danny Phantom.

"Yeah" Agent M confirmed. "I mean, you've got all those great powers, you don't have any boss to answer to about rules, and your outfit…" He seemed in awe.

Danny looked down at this suit, and then back up at the GIW. "My…_outfit_?"

"Oh, yes!" started Agent O. "So much black just accented slightly by white and silver—it must be the easiest thing in the world to keep stains out of. Much better than these perfectly white suits."

Agent M nodded in agreement at his partner, and then turned back to Danny, presenting his ecto gun once more. "So…how about those autographs?" Agent O turned back to Danny and mimicked his partner's action. The two looked to him eagerly.

Danny was mildly in shock, to say the least. "Uh…I need a…"

"PEN!" the GIW guys shouted in unison, and quickly presented Danny with novelty Danny Phantom pen.

Danny's eyes widened at the small ballpoint device that had a figure of Danny Phantom on a spring that popped out from the top whenever you clicked it. He took it hesitantly. "Uh, where did you guys get this?"

"Oh, we made it!" said Agent M proudly.

"Yeah," added Agent O, "We were thinking about marketing them as a side job…with your permission, of course." He smiled eagerly at Danny again, almost like he was hoping to get said permission right now as long as the halfa was here, anyway.

Danny blinked and floated back just slightly from the two (apparently) closet fanboys. "I'll, uh…I'll get back to you guys on that…" He reached forward and hastily signed their guns, tossing the Danny Phantom pen to Agent O.

Seeing their freshly autographed guns, the GIW couldn't help but beam again at the superhero before them. "Oh, thank you, thank you, _thank you_!!!" They yelled in unison, practically squealing in delight to each other.

Danny felt one of his eyes start twitching severely.

Suddenly, the GIW capped their reverie and cleared their throats, turning back to Danny (much to his surprise). "And, uh, while you're thinking about the pen…" started Agent M. Suddenly, both Agent M and Agent O ripped off their white suits to reveal adult sized Danny Phantom costumes underneath.

Danny's jaw just completely hit the floor.

The GIW smiled. Agent M put his hands behind his back. "Maybe you could consider letting us market these? Available in all sizes Child to Adult!"

They revved their rockets. Agent O winked. "Just think about it. See you later, Ghost Boy!"

"Yeah, see you. And thanks again for the autographs!!!" yelled out Agent M with a wave.

And, with that, they flew off, leaving a very stunned Danny Phantom behind them.

Danny just floated there for a second, a full-blown tick now randomly causing his face to spasm. "Okay, _there's_ a memory I'm going to repress until I'm thirty…"

* * *

Danny had been paused in the air for so long after this totally unexpected encounter with the GIW that he didn't see the helicopters coming right up behind him… the ones unable to turn around and avoid crashing into him without hitting each other. Hearing the noise of their blades nearby though, he suddenly turned around. "What the…?!"

The two choppers were about to collide with Danny Phantom, but he was so surprised at their sudden proximity that he didn't think, in the split second he had, to go intangible.

Suddenly, he felt something pull him down and out of harm's way.

He looked up to see the helicopters fly right through where he had been just a second ago and breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew—that was a close one! That's it—I have to stop this madness before someone gets hurt…like _me_!"

"You got that right!"

Danny jumped at the sound of the familiar though unexpected voice. "Valerie?!?!"

"The one and only, Danny Fenton…or I guess I should say Danny Phantom." She winked.

Danny's eyes widened and he suddenly noticed that he was sitting on Valerie's flying scooter and zooming in the direction of Casper High. He glanced up at his savior/capturer. "This is either _really good_ or _really bad_, isn't it?"

Valerie laughed. "Of course it's _bad_, Danny—I just saved you so that I could have the honor of wasting you myself." She whipped out an ectogun and pointed it at him.

He stood up in a flash, eyes wide.

With a smirk, Valerie pulled the ecto gun away and put it back in her utility belt, rolling her eyes. "Oh _please_, Danny—like I'm really going to destroy the 'world's hero.' Besides," her scooter landed on the front lawn of Casper High, "like you told me when we were rescuing Dani from Vlad—it's one thing to destroy a ghost," she offered him a hand to help him off the hover board, "it's another to destroy a human."

The Phantom transformed back into Danny Fenton and smiled at her, taking her hand. Valerie minimized the hover board and the two now stood before the high school, smiling at each other.

"So," Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Does this mean that we're friends now? All three of us, I mean?"

Valerie raised an eyebrow. Danny changed back into phantom form to show who he meant by the third person.

Valerie smiled and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, just don't accidentally make my life miserable anymore and we'll be okay. By the way, I want _full_ explanations about _everything_ that happened at Axion Labs*—BOTH times!"

Danny looked sheepish. "Fair enough," he responded.

The two started walking toward the building. "Uh, just out of curiosity…" Danny began, glancing at Valerie, "did you ever suspect that I was…you know…."

Valerie shrugged. "I always suspected there was something weird about the Ghost Boy…and after everything with Dani it seemed to me that _he_ might be half human too. Let's just say that when the Disasteroid was over and I knew it was you, it didn't take long for me to accept it. In fact, I was a little ticked off that I didn't figure it out on my own before you finally went and transformed in front of everyone."

Danny laughed to himself. "So, no more ghost hunting for you?"

Valerie opened the door to the building and they went inside. "Well, no more ghost _boy_ hunting, at least. But if you need any help covering the slack, I still have all those weapons that Vlad gave me." She winked

Danny grinned. "Thanks, I'd actually really appreciate that. And, uh, thanks for the save back there with the helicopters."

Valerie waved him off. "Consider it payback for all the times I nearly took you out myself."

"Deal." Danny chuckled. With that, the two freshman separated to go to their respective lockers and classes, and Danny suddenly felt a lot better than he'd felt all morning. '_I don't—maybe having the whole secret identity thing be over won't be so bad? I mean, my parents might still be getting used to things but they're coming around, and not only is Valerie my friend again but now I might have a little help keeping the peace around this place… Besides, I could use a little time for things besides ghost hunting…'_ As this last thought entered his mind, a dreamy look came to his face: he had just spotted Sam Manson over by her locker, and she was waving to him.

* * *

"So, then, Clockwork just passed out and I phased him through the ceiling and into the living room. I was hoping he'd come to before school started so that I could get some answers from him, but he was still knocked out on the couch when Jazz and I left."

Danny moved some food around on his lunch tray and looked to Tucker who was sitting across from him at their cafeteria table, and then to Sam who was seated at his side. The kids were in the middle of their lunch period, and Danny was taking the time to fill them in on the events of the morning.

"And he didn't say _anything_ about what happened before he fainted?" questioned Tucker, taking a drink from his milk carton.

"No—just my name and 'help'. I'm hoping he'll be up by the time I get home, though, so I can finally figure out what's up."

Sam smiled reassuringly and put her hand on top of Danny's on the table. "Don't worry, Danny. I'm sure he just needs some rest and he'll be fine. _You're_ always fine after a nap when _you_ pass out."

Danny felt his face grow warm at her touch. He grinned slightly, her encouragement comforting his worries. "I guess…thanks."

The two of them remained lost in each other's eyes for a few seconds, dreamy gazes on their faces.

Finally, Tucker rolled his eyes, interrupting the tender moment. "Look, you two, I know you've both finally confessed your feelings to each other and everything but, seriously—get a room or something! Some of us are trying to eat, after all!"

Danny and Sam blinked and then inched apart slightly, averting their gazes from each other and blushing. The smiles on their faces remained, though.

Suddenly, Danny felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see a smiling Paulina at his side. "Hi, Danny!" she cooed.

"Uh…" Danny was a little surprised at her sudden and random appearance, to say the least. He had been thinking over the last few days about how school would be now that everyone knew he was the Phantom. He had assumed that it would be similar to what had happened when Freak Show's attack at the Dumpty Humpty concert a few months ago had caused him to reveal his secret to everyone during the reality gauntlet escapade: instant popularity, a lot of flirting…still, he hadn't been expecting anything this direct at just this moment. "Hi…" he managed to finish.

Paulina batted her eyelashes at him. "The other popular kids and I were wondering if you'd like to come and join our table."

Danny gently pulled his arm away and grabbed Sam's hand again. "No thanks, Paulina."

She pouted. "But Danny…we all wanted to thank you for saving us from the Disasteroid!"

Danny sighed and smiled at her patiently. "Well, you're all welcome Paulina, but me and my best friend and my girlfriend are fine here."

Sam couldn't help but smile wide at being called his girlfriend, especially in front of Paulina.

Paulina raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Danny, we're inviting _all_ of you, you know."

Danny raised an eyebrow at this new piece of information. "Wait…_seriously_?"

"Of course!" Paulina smiled, glancing at Tucker and Sam. "You two _are_ Danny's sidekicks, after all."

Tucker and Sam scowled at this comment. They had always hated the idea of being just 'sidekicks.' Sure, Danny was the superhero, but they were _all_ a part of Team Phantom.

Paulina continued, ignoring the looks they were giving her. "You're popular by association. And you _have_ been helping Danny fight ghosts and keep us all safe all this time."

Before Tucker and Sam could respond to Paulina's request, Danny stood up and addressed Paulina directly once more. "Listen, Paulina, thanks again for the offer, and you guys are welcome for the ghost fighting stuff but I still think the three of us will be fine right here like we've always been."

Paulina blinked at his continued refusal. "Well, if that 's what you want, Danny…but if you're ever looking for a fourth member of your team," she suddenly leaned down seductively, causing Danny to blush, "I look great in a colorful spandex jumpsuit." She winked.

Sam growled under her breath.

Danny's voice cracked a bit as he responded to her, and he couldn't help blushing. "Uh, th-thanks."

Paulina walked away, smiling.

Danny turned back to his friends, clearing his throat and trying to get the red tinge in his cheeks under control. "So uh…what were we talking about?"

Sam scoffed and stood up, a hand on her hip and a scowl on her face.

Danny stared at her. "What?" He looked to Tucker, an eyebrow raised.

"Dude, you're in _way_ too deep for me—I'm not getting involved in this one." Tucker pushed his lunch tray away and crossed his arms over his chest.

Danny turned back to Sam, who continued to glare at him. "_What_?" he asked again.

Sam rolled her eyes and did an impression of the exchange that had just taken place, batting her eyelashes dramatically. "I look _great _in a colorful spandex jumpsuit," and then adding in an extremely cracked voice, "Uh…th-th-th-thanks." She scowled again and returned to her normal voice. "Oh _please_!!!"

Danny scowled. "Oh, come on, Sam, I was just being nice…Besides, I didn't run over there at her _beck and call_, or anything. I told her we were fine right here, the way we've always been." He sighed, a touch of anger still in his face. "Sam, you can't really think that after everything that's happened between us that I'd just drop it all for a chance to sit at the 'cool kid' table and have Paulina treat me like some kind of trophy." Now his face almost looked a little hurt as he added, "I'd never do that to you…ever."

Sam blinked as he finished his small speech. She sat back down at the table, losing her scowl entirely, and, in fact, blushing slightly in embarrassment at her overreaction to the situation.

Danny couldn't help but laugh, suddenly, as the reality of her jealous reaction fully hit him. He inched himself just a little closer to her, and looked at her and smiled, reaching up and turning her face so that their eyes met just as they had before. "Besides, she only reason she likes me because I'm Danny Phantom. You like me for everything. There's no contest."

A sheepish smile finally came to Sam's face at this comment. She almost had to laugh herself at how she had just acted. "Sorry, Danny. I guess I shouldn't of…"

"Hey, Danny!" Valerie suddenly called out, walking toward their table with a lunch tray.

Instantly, Tucker and Sam scowled at the approaching girl. Danny called them off. "Hey, take it easy, guys. Me and Valerie had a talk this morning and destroying the Ghost Boy is no longer at the top of her 'to do list.' " He used air quotes to emphasize these last words.

Tucker and Sam still looked skeptical, however, despite Danny's attempt at levity.

Meanwhile, Valerie sat down next to Tucker, smiling at him and then at the slightly scowling girl in front of her. "Hey Tucker, Sam—how's it going?" She looked from one to the other, awaiting a response, but was only met with continued suspicious looks. Her smile fell and she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, look, you two. I know we've had problems in the past but I was hoping we could all bury the 'ecto hatchet?'" She looked to them hopefully, a sincere smile on her face.

Sam was the first to speak. "Fine, so, you're not hunting Danny anymore…but why do you suddenly think it's okay to try and be friends with all of us again?"

Valerie seemed about to reply defensively, but then paused and sighed, looking down at her tray. "I just want to start over, okay? I mean, it's stupid for us to hunt ghosts separately when we could work together and save ourselves a lot of trouble and save Danny a lot of ghost fighting effort." She paused, waiting for any challenge to this argument. However, both Sam and Tucker seemed unable to come up with a reason to disagree with her about this excellent point. She smiled and added, glancing down at her tray, "Besides, you know…you guys are the closest thing I have to friends. I want to make things better between us…and I want to make it up to Danny for all the problems I've caused him in the past."

Sam blinked, surprised by the tone of sincerity of the last statements of the girl before her. Valerie continued. "And to answer the question you _didn't_ ask..." she looked at Sam specifically, "_No_, I have _no_ intentions of going after Danny. He's all yours and you don't have to worry about me."

Sam blushed furiously at this last comment. "Uh…thanks."

Tucker smiled and, seeing an opening, smoothly leaned closer to Valerie. "_So_…does this mean you have your sights set on anyone else in particular? You know I AM the mayor… or at least I _was_ for a few days… Man, I still can't believe they put Sanchez back into office just because I'm a minor and they found out Vlad rigged the elections!"

Valerie rolled her eyes at him. "_Anyway_," she turned back to Danny, "Like I was saying this morning, if you need any help just let me know."

"Thanks, Valerie." Danny smiled. The bell suddenly rang, and at its sound the four kids stood and prepared to go to their next classes.

* * *

**A/N:**

Okay, that's all for now! More will be coming shortly though, as it's already written out and just needs to be edited :) Danny's still in for a long day at school, and then he's going to return home for an unexpected surprise... I'll try and keep updating as frequently as possible at to balance this with working on my other fics that I shouldn't even be starting since I really want this to be a top priority, but oh well, lol (Also, for anyone who's a fan of TA who's reading this...there's a very slight chance that I might have a very slight surprise in the near future in regards to that story...I'm sorry, I don't mean to be cryptic but I just needed to say something to someone since I might have been up until 5am last night writing something very VERY randomly...lol, I seriously need to cut myself off from that monster fic.)

Okay, Happy Reading everyone!!!

~Azure129 aka Jenna

*Thanks Dp-shrine-in-closet-girl!


	3. Expected and Unexpected Encounters,Part2

**A/N:**

Hey guys, glad you all seem to like where this is going and I hope you enjoy Chapter 3 :) Some insanity is about to go down for our favorite Phantom and his friends as they continue with their interesting first day back from school after the Disasteroid incident.

Please R/R and of course enjoy!!!

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 3:**

**Expected and Unexpected Encounters, Part 2**

**

* * *

**

The day continued with students who had never even known Danny's name before suddenly talking to him like they were old friends, asking for high five's in the hallway, and even making requests for him to go intangible and sneak them test answers in advance. Danny just tried to take it all in stride, though, keeping close to Tucker and Sam and, now, Valerie.

"Hey, Fenton, if you'd be willing to go ghost in your jersey we could sure use you on the football team!" Announced Dash Baxter, suddenly sliding up and leaning against the locker next to Danny's as Danny retrieved his books for his next class.

Danny slammed his locker shut and growled a little under his breath, finally thoroughly sick of all the phoniness he was being subjected to as a result of his new celebrity status. "Dash, I'm _not_ helping you guys cheat at football!"

Dash tried to brush the rejection off. "'Kay, s'cool. Well, I'm having a party this weekend to celebrate the fact that the earth didn't, ya know, blow up or anything. Wanna come? Maybe you can show off some of your cool ghost powers, huh?" Dash raised his eyebrows and smiled hopefully.

Danny rolled his eyes. "I think I'll pass, Dash. Thanks, anyway."

Sam, who had just finished getting her books from her locker as well, suddenly walked up to her boyfriend upon hearing this little exchange and put an arm over his shoulders. She scowled at the jock. "Dash, Danny's not some conversation piece for your preppy party. He's a hero and needs to use his powers for keeping you safe—_NOT_ for entertaining guests!"

"Yeah, whatever, Goth girl…" Dash sighed and rolled his eyes, turning back to Danny. "Anyway, Fenton, you just let me know if there's anything me and the guys can do for you and it's yours. Seriously—party invites, making the team, your own nerd to wail on—"

Tucker happened to just be passing by, and suddenly Dash picked him up off the floor by the shirt collar. Tucker flailed. "Hey, let me go!"

"Here's one, for example." Dash thrust Tucker at Danny, a mischievous grin on his face.

Danny scowled and touched Tucker, turning him intangible for a moment so that he could slip out of Dash's grip.

"Aw, man!" Tucker groaned with a scowl on his face, now sitting upon the linoleum floor upon which he had fallen after being freed from Dash. "What happened to what Paulina said about being 'popular by association'?"

Dash blinked and finally looked at the person he had just grabbed from the hallway without thinking or caring. "Oh, sorry, Foley—my geek radar hasn't learned to overlook you yet. Old habits."

Tucker scowled and stood up, brushing himself off. "Yeah, whatever…"

"Look, Dash—" Danny began, trying to firmly reject the obnoxious boy's requests once and for all. Suddenly, though, his breath became tinged with an all-too-familiar cold sensation. Danny looked around nervously. "Oh, no—who is it _this_ time?"

"Ha, Ha, whelp! I told you our truce was over as soon as we finished saving our world! Now, to resume the hostilities of the Ghost Zone against your pathetic realm, and of, course to resume my hunt of you as the top prize in both dimensions!"

Danny rolled his eyes at Skulker, who had suddenly appeared floating above him and the other students in the hallway, several of his weapons at the ready. "Actually, Skulker—Ember, the Lunch Lady, the Box Ghost and even Clockwork have already beat you to it. Don't you guys communicate at all? I mean, come on—Ember's your _girlfriend_!" he added smugly, smirking.

Skulker blinked in surprise at this announcement, and then scowled to himself. "Oh, for the _love_ of—I told her to tell everyone that _I_ would get to be first. Now the irony's _completely_ ruined!"

"Not as ruined as _you're_ going to be when I'm through with you!" Danny announced with a smile. "I'm Going Ghost!!!" He dramatically transformed into the Phantom.

The crowd of students forming around him suddenly erupted into cheers. Skulker glanced around at the unusual reactions of the other kids of Casper High, who were usually running away screaming in panic by this point in a ghost conflict. He turned back to Danny, a cocky grin on his face. "Looks like you've got a cheering section, ghost child. But don't think that's going to make things go any easier for you in a fight against me—I will never stop pursuing you no matter how much the Disasteroid incident has helped you on earth. Skulker prepared to fire a gun at Danny.

Danny continued scowling at him. "Yeah, well, the whole thing's actually had its ups and downs… And speaking of _downs_…" Danny smirked and shot a ghost ray at Skulker, who was still too distracted by the banter he was having with Danny to think much about defense.

The shot hit Skulker in the shoulder, causing him to fall back and misfire his gun at the ceiling. He sat up, glaring at Danny. "You'll pay for that, whelp, when I have your pelt on my wall!" He stood up, preparing to fire at Danny once more, this time much more focused on both attacking his prey _and_ keeping himself protected. The young halfa braced himself, more than ready to handle anything Skulker could throw at him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Dash ran forward, Football players and cheerleaders at his side. "Hey, leave Danny Phantom alone!!!"

"_DASH_!!!" Danny yelled in surprise, turning to see him. "What are you _doing_!? Get out of the way before you all get _hurt_!" His tone was one of annoyance as he spoke, but in his eyes there was definitely panic. It was one thing for all of the kids to bug him when they were just in class or in the halls, but it was another thing for them to start interfering when he was fighting a dangerous ghost. It had always been hard enough making sure Sam and Tucker (and, later, Jazz) stayed safe while doing his job—the last thing he needed was the entire high school requiring guard duty while he tried to pummel Skulker.

Skulker suddenly burst into laughter at the sight of the teenagers rushing forward as though about to participate in the battle. "Well, look—a whole army of halfa wannabees." He turned to Danny, smiling. "_You're_ prize enough, but if all of your human friends want to join you in cages, I don't mind."

"Hey, we're not…uh…" Dash's exclamation had started off angry, but his confusion quickly doused the emotion. "What was that word you used?" he asked cluelessly.

"Halfa," Skulker explained, enjoying playing with his prey. "It means being half ghost and half human, like Danny here is and like you all seem to be trying to be."

"Oh. Thanks," said Dash with a smile.

"No problem," replied Skulker.

Danny looked from one party to the other, disbelief and annoyance on his face. "_Hello_! Can we please get back to me kicking Skulker's butt?!"

Dash turned to Danny and smiled, a look of determination on his face. "You got it, Fenton—with a little help from your new partners, of course! 'Specter Detectors' assemble!"

"Dash!"

"Quan!"

"Paulina!"

"Starr!"

The four posed, each with a real world weapon of choice.

Danny just floated there with his mouth agape, unbelieving what he was seeing. "Why am I getting this weird sense of déjà vous?"

"GO TEAM!!!" Dash suddenly yelled, taking Danny out of his aloud-thoughts. He raced toward Skulker, wielding a football. "Try a touchdown to the face, you ghostly…_guy_!" With this lame piece of banter, he threw the ball at Skulker that. Unfortunately, and very predictably, it phased right through his unmoving form.

"Now, _me_!" yelled Paulina, and her and Starr both did cartwheels forward, tossing cheerleading batons at Skulker. However, they both slammed into each other at the last minute, effectively destroying their attack.

"And, now, _Quan_ to finish him off!!!" yelled Quan, though nervously as his fellow 'Specter Detectors' didn't seem to have had much luck with their efforts. He jumped forward but slipped on one of the batons from Paulina and Starr's bungled attack, and fell to the ground.

Danny just sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "This is like some kind of rejected plot line for my life…" he couldn't help but mumble to himself. Realizing that, of course, this little display had to stop before anyone got hurt, he quickly cried aloud, "Guys, STOP IT!!! You could seriously get yourselves wasted!!! Leave the ghost fighting to the people who know what their doing!"

An indomitable Dash, however, ran forward to Danny. "It's okay, Danny, we're here to help you! I mean, even though half of you is the powerful ghost boy, half of you is still just puny Danny Fenton."

Danny scowled. "I'm serious guys, stop i—" A stray ghost ray from Skulker suddenly came at them all, and Danny did his best to block the sudden attack. He turned back to the four teens who had failed to assist him _whatsoever_ in the current ghost encounter despite their 'plan'. "Get out of here, guys! Now! I can't fight the ghost _and_ keep all of you safe at the same time!"

"Hey, but Manson and Foley always get to stick around and help you!" Dash pointed out, a scowl on his face.

"That's because they have skills, and experience, and abilities that I can actually _use_!!!" Danny shouted back, his annoyance growing as he continued to try and stop Skulker's shots.

"Danny, _Danny_!!!" Tucker yelled as he suddenly ran up the hallway, carrying a Thermos, and breathing heavily.

"We're here!" Sam was in his wake, also panting and coming from the direction from which they'd gotten the ghost container. "I didn't have any more thermoses in _my_ locker, and _Tucker_…" She glared at the panting boy beside her.

Tucker took a few breaths, gripping his side. "And I…might have taken an extra thermos of triple con carne chili in my backpack today to snack on instead of a new Fenton Thermos…"

Sam turned back to Danny, still looking distinctly annoyed with Tucker's irresponsibility. "_So_, we had run all over the school and find Jazz to get her to give us one of _her_ thermoses!" She elbowed Tucker in annoyance.

"Ow!" he yelled, rubbing his side even more now that he was both winded and mildly injured. He held up an index finger. "I…have _no regrets_!"

Sam took a deep breath and grabbed the thermos from a still slightly winded Tucker. "Anyway, Danny, here's the—WHOA!!!" Sam yelled as she took a step forward and suddenly tripped over the other baton on the floor from Paulina and Starr's cheerleading offensive. As she fell, she grabbed onto Tucker for support, unfortunately pulling him down beside her on the floor and causing him to lose his grip on the Fenton Thermos, which rolled away from them and across the hall.

Danny just sighed and dragged a hand down his face at the sight of two competent members of Team Phantom suddenly finding themselves taken completely out of commission by a bunch something attempted by a bunch of newbies. "This is even worse than when Jazz joined the group…" he couldn't help but comment to himself at the sight.

"Hey, I _heard_ that!" said Jazz, suddenly appearing around a corner and running up to her brother with a scowl on her face and an extra thermos. "At least_ I_'_m_ smart enough to always bring a back-up thermos just in case another ghost shows up or—WHOA!!!" Unfortunately, Jazz didn't see Sam and Tucker in a pile on the floor, and suddenly she fell on top of them as well, tossing the thermos in the air. Luckily, Danny was able to lunge and catch it before it crashed to the ground or fell and rolled somewhere unfindable like the last one considering all of the chaos currently in the hallway. "At least _something's_ gone right…" he said to himself with a bit of relief.

Danny turned away from the three students as he heard laughter behind him. He turned to see Skulker rolling on the floor and holding his sides. "Oh, oh, this is HILARIOUS, ghost child! You've got an army of teenage fans wielding pathetic weapons that couldn't even hurt one of _their own kind,_ let alone _me_…"

Danny scowled, folding his arms over his chest. "_Okay_, Skulker…"

"Ha ha ha…and then even your gloomy girlfriend and the geek and your own sister have gotten worse! Ha ha ha!!!"

"_Alright_, Skulker…" Danny said impatiently, drumming his fingers against his arm and waiting patiently for him to stop so they could start battling.

"HA, HA, HA!" Skulker continued his uncontrollable reverie. "Oh boy, I can't wait until the next ghost Christmas party—the whole night is going to be spent teasing you about this if I have any say in it! Ha ha ha!!!" Suddenly he sat up, smiling. "Oh you have to let me make a run back to my lair for a minute to get the camera so that I can take some pictures for the Christmas cards! Ha, ha, ha!!!"

Danny just floated there, looking thoroughly annoyed at this point. "Oh, why bother?" He grumbled to himself in defeat, still scowling at the ghost consumed with laughter before him.

With a roll of his eyes, Danny pressed a button on the Thermos in his hand and sucked the laughing and incapacitated Skulker inside.

"What'd I miss?!?! _What'd I miss_?!?!" Valerie suddenly came flying up the hall on her hover board, looking around anxiously.

Danny sighed to himself, and rubbed his temples, turning to her. "Humiliation, stupidity, showboating…a little late for the ghost, though, Valerie."

"Aw, darn it!" She landed and pressed a button on her board to make it shrink. "And I haven't had any good ghost action in weeks!"

Danny landed by Sam, Tucker and Jazz. "Well, _there_ was a perfectly executed ghost capture," he commented sarcastically, gesturing to the chaos around them.

The three other members of Team Phantom just gave each other looks and then sighed in annoyance and defeat at the incident that had just concluded. Jazz glanced at her brother. "Danny, this has all gone way too far—kids can't be hurling themselves in front of you as human shields just for a piece of the limelight." She pushed herself up from the floor, dusting herself off.

"Hey, I tried telling them to back off, but now that they know I'm Danny Fenton too, it's suddenly a better idea to listen to Dash and his idiotic plans instead of Danny Phantom who knows what he's doing now just as well as he knew what he was doing last week before the secret got blown wide open."

Sam spoke up this time. Her and Tucker were already standing. "Well, then, you've got to talk to someone they'll have to listen to…what about Lancer or something?"

Danny couldn't help but sigh and roll his eyes. "Believe me, the _last_ thing I need is Lancer finding out about this whole thing. Not that that _isn't_ going to happen since it's probably all over the school by now…but, I mean, I wasn't exactly on his A list _before_ the whole Phantom unveiling and I'm sure he and everyone else on the staff wouldn't mind expelling me from this place for good and avoiding having to spend the tax money every time a ghost randomly decides to have it out with me between classes." He glanced up at the crack in the ceiling that Skulker's first misfired shot had made. "Great!" He flew up, examining it. "I just hope I can find some way to fix it before Lancer notices…maybe he'll go easier on me if I do…"

"_The Audacity of Hope_, people, what is going on here?!?!" came the sound of a very familiar authoritarian's voice as he suddenly appeared in the hallway only to see several of his students scattered around the floor and a large crowd gathered around them…and, of course, Danny flying right near a serious bit of damage to school property.

"Uh…" Danny blinked, his eyes going wide at the entrance of the worst possible person right now. He landed, turned human, stepped forward, and looked down sheepishly as he addressed the scowling teacher before him. "Sorry, Mr. Lancer—random ghost attack." He looked up at him. "Everything's okay now, though, so I'll just be getting to class…" Danny smiled innocently and started heading back to his locker.

"Not so fast, Mr. _Phantom_." Lancer grabbed Danny's collar, causing him to stop. "I'd like to see you in my office after school today, comprende?"

Danny sighed in defeat. "_Yes_…"

"Good." Lancer smiled and let him go. He turned to the other students still in the hall. "Now, everybody, for the love of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance get to class already. The bell rang thirty seconds ago!" And with that the crowd started to disperse.

Sam instantly put a comforting hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "It's okay, Danny…I'm sure he'll just want you help fix the damages or something. You're not getting kicked out of here that easily." She winked at him, causing him to crack a smile despite his bad mood.

"Yeah, Danny—Sam's right." Valerie smiled reassuringly, approaching him. "Just go to class and don't worry about it. I mean, people have known that I was the ghost-hunting girl for a while and I did a lot more damage to this place both before and after the fact, and _I'm_ still here. I'll bet he even just wants to talk to you about the same thing you want—keeping the other kids out of your way and safe."

Danny couldn't help but smile even more, feeling really thankful for the good point Valerie had just brought up. He was about to respond to her when Jazz suddenly put one of her hands on his other shoulder. She turned to Tucker, Sam and Valerie. "You three go on ahead, okay? I need to talk to Danny about something."

The three teens glanced at each other blankly for a second. Then Sam turned back to Jazz with an understanding smile. "Sure." She turned back to Tucker and Valerie. "Come on, guys. Lancer's right—we're all already late, and it's for _his_ class."

"See you in the classroom, man!" called Tucker, and with that the three kids started walking up the hall.

Jazz waved at them as they departed. Then she turned to her brother. He couldn't help but notice the look of concern on her face. She hesitated before going. "Danny, do you want me to maybe talk to Lancer with you after school? You know, to explain things to him a bit?"

Danny sighed, an appreciative smile coming to his face at the offer. "Thanks, Jazz…but, don't worry—I'll be okay." Not that he wouldn't have appreciated the support his sister during what might indeed be his last trip to the Principle's office if he really was expelled, but Danny could feel that familiar sensation of guilt creeping up inside of him at the thought of inconveniencing his sister for yet another time over the course of the last few days all because of his secret identity coming out. Knowing, though, that if she thought he was just feeling guilty she'd just want to stay behind that afternoon and help him out even more, he made sure to add to his initial refusal, "Besides, I think at least one of us should get back to the house as soon as class is over to check on Mom and Dad and Clockwork…" He almost laughed. "I mean, they're _our_ parents and they're helping nurse back to health a strange ghost who destroyed half their lab and nearly knocked me out this morning, all by themselves. I feel like there's serious potential for something to go horribly wrong or at least horribly awkward if someone with a little more experience being on Team Phantom doesn't step in to help them out."

Jazz couldn't help but laugh at her brother's observation. "Yeah, I think asking them to do that this morning _was_ a little much for them to take in. You can count on me, Danny!" She winked at him.

Danny smiled at his big sister. "Thanks, Jazz." Finally, Danny glanced at the floor in search of his books that had been scattered to the floor when he had transformed into the Phantom and started battling Skulker. He picked them up a few feet away with a sigh, and then turned back to his sister who was still watching him with love and concern. "I'll see you later… And don't worry—really, I'm fine." He gave her one more reassuring smile, and then headed down the hall to the classroom where he was overdue to be.

"Okay class settle down!" announced Lancer as Danny finally entered the room, which was full of students minus his still empty desk. _'Great—just please don't let him give me detention or something on top of everything else because I'm technically late._'

Danny sighed and approached his usual spot, taking a seat and placing his books in front of him. He couldn't help but feel a small bit of relief that Lancer had, indeed, not called him out on his slightly-greater-than-everyone-else's tardiness.

"Alright, students," Lancer continued, smiling and clapping his hands together, "Today we're going to be reading William Shakespeare's _MacBeth _in class!" He held up a large textbook with a picture of the bard on the cover. "Now, I'm just going to assign each of you a role to read out loud for the rest of the period and then we can begin…"

The class groaned. Lancer ignored them. "Dash, you will play MacBeth, Paulina, you're lady Macbeth, Ms. Manson, you can be the three witches, Mr. Foley, you'll play King Duncan…"

Danny was currently completely zoning out and imagining a nice relaxing invisible flight tonight over the countryside (possibly with Sam) when the sound of his name brought him back to he present. "And Mr. Fenton…why don't you play Banquo?" Lancer grinned. "You know, for half the play he's a ghost too? Maybe you could transform at that point to make the part more authentic," he joked.

Danny just gave a frustrated sigh and threw his head down on his desk. Lancer ignored the dramatic response. "So, let's begin! Act I, Scene I, upon the Scottish moors…"

* * *

The rest of the day at school passed with little incident (except, of course, for the million students trying to find some way to be best friends with the now world celebrity currently attending classes alongside them). Finally, though, the last class of the day had ended, and now Danny was in the process of getting his books from his locker and trying not to be nervous about his impending talk with Lancer in his office.

With a sigh, Danny closed his locker and began to trudge to the familiar office. Tucker and Sam glanced at each other at the almost depressing sight of him, and quickly shut their lockers and caught up with him.

"Hey…" Sam started, smiling at him, "Seriously, Danny, I'm sure it's nothing. I mean, if it was really bad then Lancer would have done something or said something then and there, right?"

"Yeah, dude," Tucker concurred, "Don't let some lame fight with Skulker get you down. Tell you what, how about we stick around and wait for you and then when it's over Sam and I will get you all the Nasty Burger fries and shakes that you can eat?" He winked at his best friend.

Danny actually had to crack a smile at this argument. He looked to Tucker. "Thanks, Tuck…but, actually, can you guys just meet me at my house in a half an hour so that we can get down to the bottom of this Clockwork thing as soon as possible?"

"No problem, Danny." Sam winked at him. "We'll definitely be there!"

"Right, Danny—Team Phantom back in action with no fans to mess it up and no reporters to drive us nuts. Just a classic, original, Danny Phantom and friends adventure!"

All three kids had to laugh at little at this reassuring description from Tucker.

Finally, and to Danny's disappointment, the three students reached Lancer's office door. He turned back to his two closest friends, smiling. "Thanks, guys… And, yeah, I think could definitely use some good old fashioned ghost fighting on our terms… and that doesn't involve the fate of the world like the whole Disasteroid thing did." Suddenly, Danny blinked as all this talk of ghost fighting with his friends reminded him of something. "Oh, before I forget," he rummaged in his pocket, and finally fished something out. "Here." He presented Sam and Tucker with a specter deflector ring each.

Tucker looked at him sarcastically. "Uh, Danny, I think you already gave Sam a ring and as for me…well, dude, you know I gave up on the jewelry after the whole 'trying to be Goth' thing."

"Ha-ha, Tucker, very funny." Danny rolled his eyes and approached Sam, taking her hand that didn't have the class ring he had given her. He slipped the specter deflector ring on a finger, and she couldn't help but blush at the action.

"They're specter deflector rings," Danny explained. "My mom outfitted them. They're not that strong yet, but we were talking and I don't think it could hurt to have them on you for extra protection. We've already had five ghost encounters in the last three days—that's three times as many as usual, and just in case the trend continues you can't be too safe. Just twist them and they're activated." Danny made the motion of twisting Sam's ring but didn't actually do it so that he wouldn't be shocked.

Sam blushed harder, still feeling his hand on hers. "Thanks, Danny." Danny noticed her reaction and smiled. They remained like that for a second.

Finally, Tucker rolled his eyes and sighed just as he had done in the cafeteria. "You know, me and my nauseous stomach are really starting to miss the old days when you kept your crush a secret and Danny didn't have a clue." There was a moment of silence at this statement, and then the group broke into laughter.

Suddenly, Valerie ran up from down the hall. "Hey guys? What's up?"

The laughter stopped and Tucker and Sam's faces dropped slightly. Danny, however, smiled and waved at the girl now beside him. "Oh, hi, Valerie! Nothing…just getting ready to face Lancer." Danny rolled his eyes at the door, actually feeling a bit better about all of this now that he had talked to his friends.

Valerie laughed, but then glanced away sheepishly. "Yeah, about that whole thing this afternoon. Sorry I was late for helping with Skulker and everything, Danny—usually, when there's a ghost everyone's running away in terror and I know where to go for the action, but this time they were all heading there so fast and bursting with so much excitement that I thought there was a surprise Dumpty Humpty concert going on or something."

Danny sighed, trying to smile and put the whole incident in perspective, despite its many bad points. "Yeah, well—welcome to my new life where the _popular kids_ are trying to get in with _me_ by copying how I act and what I do instead of the other way around like it would be for any normal fourteen year old guy." Valerie laughed slightly at the comment and Danny continued, recalling that she had indeed done her best to help under the circumstances. "Don't worry about Skulker, anyway—the point is that we caught him..."

"Yeah," finished Tucker, suddenly moving up close beside Danny and grinning to himself, "Even if it _was_ because he was incapacitated with laughter." He laughed heartily to himself, not stopping until Sam swiftly elbowed him. "Ow!" he yelled, rubbing his side once again that day. "Hey, sheesh, it was just a joke. And, Sam, lay off with that, will you?" He scowled at her. "Seriously, I only have _one_ spleen and I'd like to keep it working for the next 80 years or so while I'm still alive." Sam just rolled her eyes.

Danny and Valerie couldn't help but laugh at the exchange.

Valerie turned to Danny, still smiling. "So," she began, "Is there any ghost thing going on that you guys need help with? I really was disappointed that I didn't get to help out with Skulker before, and I'm just itchin' for some action!" Valerie clicked her heels, causing her hover board to appear under her feet.

"Well…actually…" Danny couldn't help but still feel bit hesitant about being totally open with Valerie, but he knew that if this friendship was going to work he would have to start trusting her. Besides, everyone deserved a second chance. And with this whole Disasteroid thing behind all of them, and Vlad (the instigator of most of his conflicts with Valerie) it seemed like the time for some serious change and some new beginnings. Danny took a breath and continued his statement. "We're all meeting at my house after I'm done talking to Lancer to discuss a small problem…" The sound of Valerie's gun charging could be heard, and an eager smile was on her face. Danny blinked. "Uh…actually, it's more of a _talking_ problem than a _shooting_ problem."

"Huh?" Valerie lowered her gun and shrunk her board. "Is it about another ghost human kid?"

"No…more like a good ghost friend. I told you Valerie, not all ghosts are bad and not just the ones that are part human. If you promise to keep the blazing guns at bay, you're welcome to help out."

Valerie took a second to absorb the genuine offer, and then smiled back at Danny gratefully. She put the gun back into her backpack. "I promise. And, thanks, Danny." She held out a hand for him to shake.

He took it with a smile. "No problem. Hey, um…" he motioned to Tucker and Sam (not noticing the slight scowl that came unconsciously to Sam's face as this slight bonding moment between him and Valerie was progressing, "I just got Sam and Tucker some specter deflector rings from my Mom…" He turned back to Valerie. "Would you like me to ask her to make you one too?"

Valerie smiled but waved the offer off. "No, I think I got enough defense against ghosts right here." She patted her backpack.

Danny laughed. "Right."

There was a moment of silence between the four students. Finally, Danny's eyes rested on Lancer's door again. "Well, I better go…I'll see you guys at Fentonworks, later…"

"See ya, Danny!" yelled out Valerie, heading happily down the hallway.

"Yeah, see ya, man!" called Tucker, heading in the opposite direction.

"Bye, Danny…" said Sam quietly, a concerned look on her face as she felt herself suddenly seriously worrying about the trouble her boyfriend might be about to get in.

He turned to look back at her. "Bye, Sam…" She smiled at him, and he felt himself smile at her. Suddenly, she raised an eyebrow as he noticed him glance from side to side really quickly as though they were alone. This action was easily explained to her as he quickly leaned in and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, just barely clipping the corner of her mouth with the corner of his. She instantly felt herself blush.

He pulled away, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of this neck. "See you in a little while." He opened the door to the office and stepped inside.

Sam just remained staring at the door for a few seconds, a content smile on her face. She reached up and touched the place Danny had just kissed. '_I need to quit being so paranoid about Valerie and Paulina, don't I? Besides_,' it was entirely against her Goth nature, but she almost felt the compulsion to giggle, '_Who could really stay mad at those blue eyes or that dark hair or that goofy smile of his…'_

Sam blinked and took a breath, and blushed as she glanced around, hoping no one had seen her staring like a complete idiot at a closed door.

She picked up her backpack from the floor and walked briskly to the exit of the school. She sighed in a bit of frustration at herself at how lovesick she'd just acted, but also couldn't help a small smile clinging to her face. She shook her head. "I knew I shouldn't have watched that one romantic comedy back in seventh grade on that bet…" She sighed to herself. "Oh well, let's just spend the next half hour drowning it in tofu soy melt from the Nasty Burger and some brooding before I start writing love poems and dying everything I own pink…"

She headed out the doors and into the Amity Park afternoon, which was quite sunny and beautiful, today…a fact that, to Sam's surprise, was more than okay with her.

* * *

Danny entered Lancer's office hesitantly, his nervousness overtaking his elation from a second ago at having just kissed his girlfriend. "Uh…hello?"

Lancer was in his chair, his back to Danny. "Danny Fenton—yes, please sit down."

Danny did as he was instructed. "Uh, look, Mr. Lancer, if this is about the ghost trouble, I'm sorry. I told everyone to stay clear so they wouldn't get hurt, and I'll try to keep the damage as minimal as possible in the future, but it's just that—"

"Danny, Danny, Danny," said Lancer, still unseen, "Don't worry about the damages, that's what taxpayers are for, right?"

"Uh…" '_Okay, what's going on_?' Danny had a feeling there was something seriously up with this conversation besides just a standard lecture.

"Actually," Lancer continued, "what I actually wanted to talk to you about was having you be…" he paused to create tension, and then suddenly turned around in his office chair, grinning wide at Danny, "…Our school's new _mascot_!!!"

Danny felt like his jaw should have dropped at the sight before him, yet somehow is nervous system was in such shock that he couldn't even get that far in his reaction of disbelief. Lancer was sitting there, a big black and silver foam finger with Danny's emblem on it on one of his hands, and a shirt bearing the name Casper High Phantoms printed in large letters on it.

"Oh no…" Danny finally managed to get out of his mouth, still unblinking at the display in front of him.

"Oh, yes, Mr. Fenton, just think of the possibilities!" Lancer stood up, practically beaming. "Your name on posters and jerseys and water bottles, and you putting on a half time show at each game, enlivening our pep rallies, encouraging our students, and making me teacher of the year!!!" He was standing on his desk, looking upward proudly.

"Mr. Lancer," Danny finally found it in him to stand up, though he seriously felt like the room was spinning, "you _can't_ be serious?!"

He looked down at Danny. "Oh, but I am—it's a great honor, Mr. Fenton, and one that we'd like to bestow upon you for all of your efforts at helping our town." He sat back down in his chair, smiling eagerly at Danny.

"But, but, but…" Danny didn't even know where to begin, "But what about the _students_—I DON'T want them following me around and worshipping me and trying to help me because I'm the 'school hero' and they think it's going to make them 'cooler'! If you start encouraging all of this fan stuff, they could get hurt!!!"

Lancer waved him off. "Oh, I'll just make a rule about getting detention for interfering with Danny Phantom's duties or something. That'll keep their enthusiasm in check, I'm sure." He turned back to Danny eagerly again. "But, anyway, what do you say? Do we have a deal?" He held out his hand for Danny to shake it.

"Uh…" '_Yeah, great, and then I'll just go and approve those pens and jumpsuits for the Guys in White, and maybe ring Skulker and the gang to see if they're interested in scoring a movie deal for all of us, and then we can all just do lunch at Nasty Burger before reality finishes COMPLETELY coming apart at the seams!_' Danny swallowed hard, coming out of these thoughts and back to the adult currently awaiting a response from him. "I say…I say, my ghost sense is going off and I should probably get out of here _right_ _now_…" He smiled innocently and transformed into the Phantom.

"Oh, yes, well you go save the town, Mr. Fenton, oh I mean _Phantom_!" He winked. "Yes, there'll be plenty of time later to talk about the foam fingers and the shirts and the basketballs with your face on them…"

Danny turned intangible and flew up and out of the room before Lancer could finish.

* * *

**A/N:**

Okay, that's all for now! And, yes, before you ask, in the next chapter Danny finally gets home and we finally find out what the deal is with Clockwork. Seriously, it's like exposition on steroids, lol. I'll try and have that chapter up as soon as I can!

Happy Reading!!!

_To any of my HA! readers checking this thing out:_

_Quick poll_: Did I just jump the shark reference-wise with that whole thing about Sam _not _wanting to start writing love poems and wearing only pink?

Also, the TA thing I mentioned last time is mildly coming along and there's some serious awkwardness to be had...it's going to be another 20 something thousand word thing though so this could take a while, lol.

See you around!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


	4. Setting a Plan Into Motion

**A/N:**

Hey, DP Phandom!!! Here's the next installment of Phantom Reality :) We FINALLY get back to Fentonworks, and FINALLY find out what the deal is with Clockwork. If you were hoping for massive amounts of exposition, here it is! More comedy and adventures are on the way in Chapter 5 and beyond, but for now prepare for a bit of drama ;) Please R/R as always!!!

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 4:**

**Setting a Plan Into Motion...**

* * *

Following his epically jarring encounter with Mr. Lancer in regards to making him the poster child of Casper High, Danny Phantom found himself flying, invisibly (of course), back to Fentonworks. '_At least my family isn't going to surprise me with some insane reaction to the fact that I'm half ghost_.' He laughed to himself. '_If there're two people in the whole world who wouldn't change no matter __what__ crazy ghost stuff came along, it's Mom and Dad…_'

Finally at his destination, Danny landed on his stoop and actually turned visible, blinking in surprise at the empty street around him. "I guess my last minute meeting with Lancer must have thrown them off of my schedule." He smiled to himself. "At least _something_ good came from all that: an afternoon of peace and quiet, for once." He reached into the pocket of his suit and pulled out a walkie-talkie, pressing a button on it. "Tucker, Sam?"

He heard only static at first and then the click of a person on the other end picking up. "Hey, buddy—you survive your after school meeting?" Tucker's voice suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I just got home," Danny replied into the receiver.

"What did Lancer want?" asked Sam with a touch of worry, suddenly coming on the line.

Danny rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. No expulsion, though." He laughed. "Believe me, if anyone wants me to stick around that school now, it's Lancer."

He heard Sam sigh in relief on the other end. "Awesome. So, are you ready for us to come over?"

"Yeah, I'm heading inside now." Danny was about to end the conversation when he remembered something important from earlier that afternoon. "Oh, and can one of you guys call Valerie and tell her it's time to meet up?"

"Sure, Danny…" answered Tucker a bit slowly. There was a second of silence and then he added hesitantly, "Are you really sure we can trust her now?"

Danny hesitated, then took a deep breath. "You guys…I think she's just been confused and manipulated a lot by Vlad…We should give her a chance. Besides, even if she suddenly pulls her ecto gun on me, I'm pretty sure that between the Fenton gadgets and my powers I can take her."

Sam broke in. "We'll be there soon Danny, and don't worry—I'll call her."

Danny smiled at the voice of his girlfriend coming over the receiver. "Thanks, guys. See you soon. Over and out."

Danny put the walkie-talkie away and transformed back to human. He put his hand on his door handle, and couldn't help but smile as he briefly reflected on everything that had happened to him since he'd been here last this morning. "What a day—the Guys in White in Danny Phantom suits, the most popular kids in school acting like Team Phantom cadets, and Lancer with my face on his shirt…" He shook his head, almost having to laugh at the fiasco it had all been. He sighed to himself. "But at least I know that nothing else I could possible see today could be more unbelievable..."

Danny opened his door and stood corrected.

"So you're the ghost master of time? Fascinating…" Maddie Fenton sipped from a teacup in her hand, a smile on her face.

"Yes, I observe all of the events that occur in the past, present and future, and am responsible for keeping them in order." Clockwork answered in his always very polite and mild voice.

"Well, if you're a friend of Danny's then you're a friend of ours!" bellowed Jack Fenton, shoving a cookie in his mouth.

Clockwork smiled and turned to him. "Thank you, Jack Fenton. That is very kind."

Jack looked sheepish for a moment, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, sorry, again, about the 'putrid pile of plasma' comment from before…"

Clockwork shrugged, aging to his oldest self. "You were just worried about your son. It's quite understandable. Speaking of which…it's about time…" Clockwork looked with a slight grin to a very stunned Danny Fenton who now stood in the doorway with his jaw dropped open in shock.

Danny had never thought in his _wildest_ dreams that he would _ever_ see the sight that was before him. His parents were sitting on the couch, a conscious Clockwork in between them…and Maddie and Jack were drinking tea and eating cookies, and chatting with the ghost like he was an old friend, smiles on all three of their faces.

"Um…hello, everyone." Danny slowly shut the door behind him, an uneasy look on his face at this very strange sight. "Is everything…okay, here?" He walked with just a bit of trepidation toward the three individuals on the couch.

"All fine, sweetie. Clockwork woke up a little while ago and so we thought we'd keep him company until you got home." Maddie smiled at her son.

"Yes, Danny," chimed in Jack. "You know, I never sat down and actually _talked_ to a ghost before...I mean a _whole_ ghost, that is. It's actually been very interesting!" He smiled.

Danny sat in an armchair, still trying to process the fact that his ghost hunter parents were having tea with a ghost. "Very _creepy_, if you ask me," he suddenly heard Jazz whisper to him as she walked in and sat down in another chair. Danny did his best to hide a half smile at the comment about this new development in their parents' behaviors.

Suddenly, though, Danny remembered that he had a million questions for Clockwork, and he knew that sitting here looking stunned wasn't getting them asked or answered. He turned to the large blue ghost who now looked like a child. "Clockwork, are you okay? I mean, from this morning."

Clockwork smiled. "Yes Danny, I'm feeling quite better now. Thank you for taking such good care of me and for welcoming me into your home unannounced." He took a sip from the teacup in his hand and smiled. "What is this delicious healing concoction?" He turned to Maddie, who had served him the tea, and smiled.

She smiled back. "It's Plasma Pleasure Tea." She topped off his cup from a teapot that was obviously made from some scavenged parts of ecto weapons. The tea the Fentons were drinking was from a normal pot. Maddie finished pouring and put the ecto pot down on the coffee table again. "Lately, my husband and I have been working on inventions to help ghosts rather than just to hun—uh, to find—" Maddie stammered on her words, feeling awkward about suddenly talking about _hunting_ Clockwork's species.

Clockwork sighed with patience and continued smiling, taking another sip of the tea and then setting it down on a coaster. "I know of your past, present, and future endeavors, Mrs. Fenton—as well as your motives behind them. There is no need to apologize, and thank you again for the tea."

Maddie smiled and nodded. "You're welcome."

Danny and Jazz just looked at each other dumbfounded, completely unbelieving how well their parents were taking this transition from ghost hunters to ghost helpers.

After another second, Danny shook his head and turned to Clockwork, seriously ready to get some information about this morning's incident. "Uh, Clockwork? I'm glad that you're feeling better, and I don't mean to be rude or anything but, um…why are you here, exactly? I mean, what hurt you…?"

Clockwork's smile fell a bit and he glanced quickly at Jack and Maddie, and then turned back to Danny. "I believe it might be better if we retired somewhere private to discuss that matter."

Danny noticed Clockwork's hesitancy to talk to him in front of his parents. "Clockwork," he addressed the now elderly looking ghost with a smile, "It's okay, you can talk to me in front of them—they know everything now."

Clockwork still hesitated though, looking at Danny intently. "Even about your 'other self,' Daniel?"

Danny smiled. "Yeah, both the human", he stood up and glanced at his parents, "and ghost." He transformed into the Phantom and then sat down, looking to Clockwork again. "My parents and everyone in the world know everything now."

Clockwork sighed and looked at him as though trying to communicate something silently. "Danny, I am well aware of your recent public revelation of your true nature. It was set to come in due time. But that is not the other self I mean, young Phantom…"

Danny raised an eyebrow, sitting down slowly…feeling like he should know what Clockwork meant but still not being entirely sure…

Clockwork hesitated for a moment, and then added heavily, still looking only at Danny. "If you remember, Daniel…from our…_first_ encounter…"

Danny looked even more perplexed at this cryptic statement. Suddenly, though, his eyes went wide. Very, _very_ wide. "No…oh no…" His voice sounded disbelieving and almost sick.

"Danny…" Maddie stood up, concern evident on her face and in her voice. "What is it?" Jack put down the cookie he was about to eat, looking at his son with a touch of worry as well.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. "Danny, Danny—is Clockwork up yet?" came Valerie's muffled voice from outside.

"Ugh, Valerie—we're his friends and like we just told you, this is a ghost emergency," came Sam's annoyed voice over the anxious questioning of the ghost hunter with her. "We just open the door."

The Fenton door swung open revealing Sam, Tucker and Valerie just in time for them to witness the very important conversation starting between a very panicked Danny Phantom and a very serious Clockwork.

"But, but…" Danny (not even taking notice of his friends' arrival) put his hand to his forehead, his eyes darting back and forth like he couldn't process the piece of information Clockwork had just told him, "But I thought he was trapped in the Thermos! I thought he was out of our timeline forever!"

Clockwork sighed and shook his head. "He was my responsibility to keep track of, Danny, and I allowed him to escape. I did my best to stop him but I was not strong enough, and so I opened a portal in time and fled here before he could defeat me entirely, in order to warn you." He lowered his head slightly. "The blame lies with me, young Phantom."

Upon hearing these words of guilt, Danny blinked and stood up, addressing the time ghost very firmly. "Clockwork, _none_ of this is your fault. You were just looking after him as a favor to me. But…" Danny glanced down and swallowed, then looked back up at Clockwork with determination in eyes his. "But he's _my_ enemy, and if he's escaped then he's _my_ responsibility to take care of, once and for all."

Tucker, Sam, and Valerie had entered the house as Clockwork and Danny spoke, all looking on in silence as the conversation continued. They had joined Jazz, who had stood up as well upon Clockwork revealing his purpose, and the group of them was now in the middle of the room and looking on at Danny and Clockwork. And Jazz, Tucker, and Sam's eyes (they being the only ones besides Danny aware of what or rather _who_ was being discussed right now) had slowly grown wide with terror as the conversation progressed.

"Danny," Jazz stepped forward slowly, swallowing hard, "Is he talking about…" She didn't finish the question, hoping secretly, despite how obvious the answer seemed to be to her, that somehow she was making one of her rare mistakes.

Valerie blinked, looking from the two frightened looking teens at her side to Danny's freaked out sister and then to a very concerned looking Danny himself. "Okay, what's going on?" she asked with just a touch of annoyance in her voice about obviously being out of a loop. "Who's this enemy of Danny's that you're all talking about, and why is it a big deal that he's escaped?"

Danny sighed deeply, and then turned to his sister and his friends. "Yeah, Jazz. It's Dark Danny…he's out." Tucker, Sam, and Jazz glanced at each other uneasily. Valerie still had an eyebrow raised, though the touch of frustration upon her face had been replaced by mere curiosity and even a bit of fear at the somber tone of the voice of the young Phantom in front of her.

"Danny, what are you talking about? Who's…Dark Danny?" Maddie's voice came hesitantly as she stood up from the couch, taking a step closer to her son.

Danny swallowed hard and turned to his still confused parents. "Mom Dad…" he glanced down, "it's a…long story." He looked back up at them, trying to make the look in his eyes seem braver than he actually felt. "But I think you better know it before anything bad happens…" He hesitated for just a second and then glanced back at the center of the living room. "You too, Valerie."

And so Danny commenced telling his parents and former foe about his ultimate enemy: himself.

* * *

"…And I know that technically Dark Danny is, uh, _was_, me. But I promise you," Danny looked both his parents in the eyes, "I _promise_ you I won't become like that. I'll _never_ become like that…no matter what." He glanced at Valerie now as he concluded his explanation of, as Clockwork had described him, his 'other self.'

Maddie seemed almost in tears upon finishing hearing the tale of what her son had gone through—an experience she didn't even remember because it was no longer part of their timeline. "Oh, Danny…" She went forward and hugged him tightly.

Jack stood up and walked over to his son, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Danny," his face was unusually serious, "I'm…I'm sorry we couldn't be there for you with things like this…" He swallowed, a tear coming to his eye and a smile to his face. "But we're so proud of you, son. And we trust you."

"Everybody makes mistakes, Danny…" added Maddie, smiling and pulling away from her son to look him in the eyes. "But, for you to have been strong enough to save all of us _and_ defeat the worst parts of yourself…Danny, we're not afraid of you becoming something bad. You're the best son we could ask for…"

"And the best little brother," added Jazz reassuringly, stepping forward.

"And the best boyfriend," added Sam, suddenly stepping forward and giving a now smiling Danny a quick, shy kiss on the cheek.

"And the best friend," added Tucker, coming forward as well and giving Danny a playful elbow in the side.

Danny couldn't help but smile at the reactions of the friends and family around him (and he also couldn't help just a slight blush coming to his cheeks at Sam's particular reassurance).

Valerie seemed about to take a step forward to Danny as well, but then hesitated for a moment, like she was weighing something in her mind. Suddenly, she half smiled to herself and looked up at Danny. "So, technically, I was kinda right about not trusting you…"

Danny couldn't help the smile slipping slightly from his face. He felt his head lower in shame as the memory washed over him of finding out how a different him had indeed betrayed everyone in a moment of pain and confusion.

Tucker, Sam and Jazz glared harshly at Valerie. She ignored their stares, though, and finally walked over to Danny, putting a hand on his shoulder. He raised his head again and she looked him in the eyes, still smiling. "But, then again, you and Sam and Tucker were right for all those months about not trusting _me_. It takes a lot to realize you've messed up and to try and fix it, Danny—believe me, if anyone knows, it's _me_." Her actions as Vlad's minion for all of those months, and all of the times she'd hurt the ghost boy before her who had only been trying to help flashed through her head, causing her took look down in just a bit of shame herself. Finally, though, Valerie took a deep breath and turned her sights back to Danny. "But…you gave me a second chance, Danny. Even when you had every right, when I asked you for it today, to tell me to get lost and never come back for all the stuff I've put you through. You trust me, Danny…" she smiled sincerely, "So, I trust you, too."

She finished, and the smile instantly grew back on Danny's face. "Thanks, Valerie."

Valerie removed her hand from his shoulder and glanced around at the other people in the room (including a very shocked looking Tucker and Sam). "Alright, so, enough feeling bad for ourselves for one day. Let's go kick that evil ghost guy's butt!" She swung her backpack full of ecto weapons forward and patted them, looking back to Danny with a grin on her face. "I always knew I'd get the chance to take down Danny Phantom _one _of these days."

Danny actually laughed at the comment, rolling his eyes.

Clockwork grinned at the sight before him. "Amazing, truly amazing…you are indeed one special individual, Danny Phantom."

Danny took a deep breath and turned to Clockwork for the first time since he'd started his explanation about Dark Danny, ready to face things head on. "So, Clockwork: he's escaped. Do you know where he's gone or what he's after, exactly?"

Clockwork frowned and glanced down. "I believe he's still in the Ghost Zone, but I'm certain he will be coming here soon. His goal seems to be revenge, but possibly something else, too." His eyes turned back to the Phantom before him. "I believe he wants to regain what you took from him, Danny: his power and his world. Knowing his exact intentions are difficult for me in this case, though… He exists outside of time and therefore outside of my usual realm of knowledge."

Danny nodded at the information. "Okay…so…maybe we should just wait for him to reveal himself and then I'll attack him and put him back in the thermos?"

Clockwork still seemed troubled. "I believe that if we wait for him to appear it will be too late to do anything. He ranted often in his prison about his revenge if he ever got out, and I think he intends to do most of his damage silently and swiftly and to only announce himself to administer the final blow."

Valerie stood up. "Okay, so, then, we'll just hunt him down and take him out _before_ he can mess things up!" There was definitely a touch of excitement in her voice. "Piece of cake with the world's best ghost hunters already assembled right here."

"It will not be that easy." Clockwork turned to her. "He is a master of disguise and very powerful…the most powerful ghost ever for his dual-ghost halfa heritage." He turned back to Danny. "And he doesn't have human emotion and perspective to temper his actions and motivations as have you, Danny. You will not be able to take him down with a few ecto weapons." A definite look of worry crossed Valerie's face as Clockwork added this last statement: she had never felt helpless with her gear on her, before. The idea of something that could withstand some of the powerful stuff she'd gotten from Vlad over the months, and even some of the stuff the Fentons had managed to cook up in their lab, made her swallow hard with nervousness. '_Just what the heck are going up against, exactly…?'_

"Well, what about my ghostly wail--I can just use that again, right?" asked Danny hopefully of the large blue ghost before him.

Clockwork considered for a moment before responding. "It would weaken him, yes… But, he was already weak and unprepared for it the last time you used that attack. I fear he may have built up defenses, made plans for resisting your powers and taking you down. Being you, he knows you inside and out, Danny Phantom."

The hope in Danny's eyes quickly gave way to concern again. '_This is going to take something big, isn't it… something like when we got all of the ghosts together to help with the Disasteroid…something unexpected with so much power that he couldn't even hope to beat it…'_

Sam stood up, interrupting Danny's thoughts. She looked at Clockwork. "Well, then we'll all pitch in: weapons AND powers, and all of Team Phantom to deliver the final blow! It'll _have_ to be enough!"

Clockwork continued to frown, now turning to Sam. "If you recall, Samantha, from your brief visit to his former timeline, he was able to easily beat much more advanced weapons ten years in the future. And much more advanced ghost fighters." He turned his gaze to Valerie briefly, which caused her to blink in confusion. Clockwork ignored the look on her face and returned to addressing Sam. "Your weapons and most of you, save the elder Fentons who have had more time with fighting ghosts, would have little effect. Perhaps combined with Danny's powers you could all resist him if he attacked you. Perhaps all of you could even make him weak enough to get into one of your Thermoses but…" Clockwork hesitated.

A moment of silence passed.

"What is it, Clockwork?" Danny urged with a swallow, not liking this strange silence that had come over the time ghost even though he had already told everyone in the Fenton household the worst news imaginable.

Clockwork sighed once more and then looked the young Phantom in the eyes. "Danny, Dark Danny has escaped once and he can escape again. I have spoken with the Observants and they have decided that it seems that the only hope for keeping both our world and your world safe is to…destroy him permanently…"

Danny swallowed hard. There was silence. Finally, he spoke the first thing that came to his mind. "What…what do you mean…?"

Clockwork closed his eyes and shook his head. "That is not a task to concern yourself with, Danny. The Observants will take his disposal upon themselves. Our concern must lie in capturing him."

Danny opened his mouth, a questioning look still on his face. Clockwork cut him off, looking him in the eyes. "Danny, I cannot discuss this matter further, as it would go against certain very specific wishes of my employers. Perhaps, because you are half ghost, I can reveal more details to you when the time comes, but knowledge of the specifics of their actions and practices is limited to only a certain privileged number, among which humans are _never_ included. However, I will talk to the Observants about making an exception in your case, all factors considered. For now, though, before anything irreparable comes to pass, the capture must be our priority."

Danny paused at these words from the very serious looking ghost before him. Despite the time ghost's words, he desperately wanted to discuss this matter further with Clockwork. '_What does he mean '__destroy'__ Dark Danny? How can you actually completely destroy a ghost, anyway_?' Danny recalled that he had certainly beaten ghosts to a pulp before, and that a few of his parent's inventions had seriously put some ghosts through the wringer, but he'd never known a ghost to…die, before. '_Can__ a ghost even die_?' he couldn't help but suddenly wonder to himself for the first time. '_And…do the Observants actually have the right…and the power...to do something like that?_' Danny had never met the Observants himself, though he'd always assumed they were powerful since Clockwork seemed to answer to them. But...he'd never considered that they might be _that_ powerful. Whatever kind of power something like that would take.

Danny was about to open his mouth again to voice some of these questions, but the firm look on Clockwork's face told him that there wasn't much chance of him successfully pressing the matter further. At least, not right now. Danny took a breath. Besides, he had to agree with Clockwork about one thing—the priority, right now, was capturing the double hybrid currently roaming through the Ghost Zone and possibly even the real world with nothing to stop him from having his ultimate revenge on everything and everybody in his path.

So, Danny took a seat in his former chair and, with a deep breath, merely asked, "Okay…so, how do we get him?"

Clockwork considered, his face losing that dire look now that the previous topic of discussion seemed to have terminated for the moment. "Hybrids are much stronger than regular ghosts. If we're going to fight a being deriving his powers from double halfa origins with no human limitations to temper them, then we're going to need as much halfa power as possible…"

Tucker spoke up. "But, you just said that Danny's power wouldn't be enough?"

Clockwork smiled at him. "It won't…" He turned back to Danny. "But you're not one of a kind, are you, Danny Phantom? There is another hybrid with intentions as good as your own."

Danny looked confused for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Danielle!!!"

"Danielle!!!" yelled Tucker, Sam and Jazz in unison, all smiling at each other.

"Who's Danielle?" questioned Jack and Maddie at the same time, looking at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Hey, _yeah_!" Valerie chimed in, turning to Danny with a smile. "You stabilized her, so she can use her powers now! She can help!"

"But…" Danny glanced down, a slight frown on his face. "I hate to put her in danger like that, especially when she just got her freedom…"

"Danny," Tucker started, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Listen, I know you want to protect her, but if Dark Danny wins you know that whatever happens to all of the ghosts and the humans is going to be bad—but whatever happens to the half ghost/half humans will probably be even _worse!_ Especially if he knows that you care about her!"

Sam put her hand on Danny's other shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "Danny, I know you want her to be safe but you know she'd want to help us."

Danny smiled back at Sam slightly, but still hesitated. '_I really wish we didn't need to bother Dani, though…she seemed so happy the last time I really saw her, finally being away from Vlad and able to live on her own once and for all… But Tucker and Sam are right. Dark Danny really would pick out some kind of special torture for the halfas just for the fun of it. If I try to keep Danielle out of this now, that just means there's more of a chance that her life and everyone else's will be ruined if I lose because we didn't have her help_.' He almost laughed as another thought occurred to him, finally deciding the matter for him. '_And besides—she'd kill me if she ever found out that I'd left her out of the action_.'

These thoughts concluding in his head, Danny sighed and finally looked at Sam and Tucker with as much of a full smile as he could muster. "Okay. We'll get Danielle." Tucker and Sam smiled at him. Danny's face fell for just a second though as a new thought occurred to him. "But...even if she'll help, I don't even know where to find her. I mean, I meant to talk to her after the Disasteroid thing about where she was staying and what she was doing, but with all the stuff about my secret getting out and celebrating the survival of the world and Ghost Zone, by the time I remembered to find her it was too late and she was already gone."

"Well, actually…" looking a little sheepish, Valerie took a hesitant step forward, "I think I can help." Valerie swallowed nervously and rummaged in her backpack for a second, suddenly pulling out a small, beeping device. "I…_might ha__ve_ chipped her the last time I fought with her."

Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz turned to look at her in surprise.

Valerie blinked. "Well, I still wasn't 100 percent ready to trust her, yet, and I figured it would be good to know where she was, just in case."

"Danny," Maddie finally interrupted patiently, still in the dark along with her husband. "Who is this Danielle person, exactly?"

Danny took a deep breath and then turned to his parents, rubbing the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. "It's…it's another long story… Uh, the short version might sound a little…weird…but if you want hear it I'd be happy to try filling you in…"

"Shoot, son!" boomed Jack, "I mean, after hearing about you defeating your future evil self from an alternate timeline, nothing could possibly shock us now!" Maddie smiled, nodding in agreement with her husband.

Danny took a deep breath and said as quickly as possible, "Well, she's a female twelve year old human ghost hybrid clone of me that Vlad Plasmius made in a failed attempt to harness my power for his own evil plans." He cringed, waiting for the reaction from heck.

Jack and Maddie both blinked at the same time, then looked at each other and then at their son. They were silent for several seconds, surprise more than evident on their faces.

Maddie was the first to speak, an eyebrow raised. "Danny, _really_…how, exactly, did we not know that any of this was going on for almost the last year?"

Danny shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Uh…ghostly skill? Heh heh…"

"Wait, now, I'm confused," said Jack scratching his head. "So there's three of you, now, Danny?"

Danny raised an eyebrow. He had never thought of it like that.

Tucker smiled. "Hey, I never thought of it like that. Wow, this is crazier than the time we used the Ghost Catcher to split you in half!" He started to laugh.

Maddie blinked, and suddenly the sentence processed with her. "You used the Ghost Catcher to do _what_?!?" she scolded, looking from Tucker to Danny.

"Tucker, _shut it_!" Sam elbowed him.

"Uh," Danny looked from Tucker (who was glancing away, whistling innocently) back to his mother (who was scowling and tapping her foot impatiently as she awaited an explanation of what she'd just been informed of.) Danny cleared his throat, trying to smile innocently as he backpedaled. "Uh…it was nothing, Mom, don't worry about it. Just a stupid experiment we tried when I was bored and a little stressed out one day, and it didn't work out so we fixed it and here I am." He spread out his arms, smiling wide. "Just one Danny and totally fine." He but his arms behind his back, the sheepish smile back. "Heh, heh…"

Before Maddie could say anything, Danny turned to his father, deciding to address _his_ question in hopes of bringing attention away from the matter of the Ghost Catcher incident. "And, yeah, Dad, Dark Danny and Danielle and I all technically have my DNA, but, no—we're _definitely_ different people."

Jack put a hand to his chin, considering this revelation, while Maddie just sighed and rested her head in her hand, doing her best to take-in suddenly finding out just how many secret things had been going on under her roof over the last several months.

Recalling the matter at hand now that his parents were filled in, Danny turned back to his friends and sister with a smile. "Okay, so we can get to Danielle." He gestured with his head to Valerie, who was still holding her ghost tracker in her hand, and tinkering with it a bit now. He turned back to Clockwork, a touch of concern returning to his face once more. "It's a good plan, Clockwork, but I'm not sure if we'll have enough to stop Dark Danny just from getting her to help out. She's younger than me and her powers aren't as developed. Besides, she's only had a month or so to practice with them since she's been alive."

Clockwork took another tranquil sip of his tea as he addressed this concern of Danny's in his always calm voice. "There's another ghost human source you're not considering young Phantom."

Danny paused for a second at this response, an eyebrow raised again. '_Another half ghost, half human…But there's just me and Danielle...and…'_

Then it hit him what…or rather _whom_…clockwork was referring to.

"NO WAY! Absolutely NOT! He's not even welcome on this _planet,_ anymore, let alone in this _house_!" Danny's eyes suddenly flashed green, his anger rising even at the thought of going on his knees for help to the person Clockwork had just hinted at.

Suddenly, it hit Sam exactly who the ghost and half ghost before her were talking about. "But, but Clockwork," she turned to him, "If anything he'd _join _Dark Danny and _help_ him, not _hurt_ him!"

Tucker's eyes widened as he, too, suddenly felt a wave of realization wash over him. "Wait, you can't mean…"

'_Another human ghost hybrid_?' thought Valerie to herself for second. Then her eyes widened in understanding. She turned to Clockwork. "You can't be serious, ghost!"

"I'm afraid I am," he responded levelly. He turned back to the young Phantom. "Danny, he is stronger than you in several ways and he is the most experienced halfa in existence."

"Danny, is there a fourth you?" asked Jack Fenton, scratching his head at yet another exchange which he and his wife couldn't understand.

Danny didn't speak for a second, total frustration evident on his face. "No, Dad…" he finally managed to muster, his eyes losing their greenish glow, though they continued to bespeak a great deal of resistance as Danny stared forward and down. "Clockwork means I should ask Vlad Plasmius for help."

The room fell silent.

* * *

**A/N:**

That's all for now :) Thanks for reading and I'll try and have Chapter 5 up asap!!!

Happy Reading!!!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


	5. Working Out the Situation

**A/N:**

Hello readers :) Wow, okay, I know it's been a year since I worked on this story and I apologize to anyone who started reading it when I started writing it. I just got caught up in a bunch of stuff, I was graduating college, and I do a TON of fanfic writing in the Hey Arnold! section of this site so that takes up a ton of time too, plus the DP canon is really hard to keep track of sometimes so it's a lot harder for me to write a fic in this fandom. However, I really would like to finish this story and I promise I'm going to try and that updates will indeed be coming and more regular ;)

Alright, that's all for now! Please enjoy and review! Thank you ^w^

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 5:**

**Working Out the Situation**

* * *

"Clockwork, what if we got all of the ghosts together again to help me and Dani? Then Plasmius doesn't have to get involved!" Danny quickly and eagerly suggested, looking at the time ghost a little desperately.

Clockwork just looked at him a bit solemnly though. "Danny, my employers…have made it expressly clear that I am not to reveal knowledge of this incident." He seemed to be choosing his words very carefully, as though not trying to offend the Observants on the off chance (or actually probably very likely chance) that they were observing the conversation at this very moment. Yet he also seemed to be trying to make it so that Danny could understand the truth about what was really going on. He continued, "They believe it would cause…undue unrest in the Ghost Zone if its inhabitants learned about this unfortunate incident and the circumstances behind it."

Danny's hopeful look fell a bit. "So basically they don't want to look bad to the other ghosts for keeping this a secret in the first place and then not being able to capture Dark Danny now that he's escaped..."

Clockwork smiled, affirming Danny's statement. "An astute interpretation, young Phantom."

Danny put a hand to his chin and seemed to consider for a few moments then replied, "And you're not going to bend the rules again?"

Clockwork sighed as though exhausted with the topic he was about to bring up. "Ever few millennia or so that group has a mind to 'strengthen' their authority in the Ghost Zone, at least in their own minds, by 'cracking down' as you might say." He smiled again though. "However, since in a sense you _are_ the escapee it seems to me I can tell you what in fact another you already knows, don't you agree?"

Danny grinned at Clockwork's cleverness. From the couch Tucker smiled in understanding as well. "Ah, it warms my heart to see another lover of loopholes." He reclined back with a pleased expression.

Clockwork nodded to Tucker. "And as for the rest of you," he gazed around at the other occupants of the room, "Since all of you are humans you do not fall under the direct jurisdiction of the Observants, and since we are within a private home without any other potential ghost listeners, I may reveal to you anything that I desire here and now."

Danny's smile grew a little more at this other clever loophole, but then it fell yet again and he seemed to consider for a few seconds again. Finally, he spoke up once more. '_A private home…no other potential ghost listeners…_' "But, Clockwork, does that mean that…even though you managed to tell me and my friends and my family…there's no way you can really warn anyone else?" He was thinking of both the ghosts as well as the humans, not just in Amity Park but throughout the world…And actually interestingly enough had mixed feelings about this situation.

Clockwork looked very intently at Danny…and a very meaningful half smile came to his face. "Correct, Danny—_I_ can't."

At these words, Sam suddenly smiled and jumped up from her seat. "That's _brilliant,_ Clockwork!" She turned to her boyfriend, an idea obviously having clicked in her head! "Danny, just because _he_ can't tell doesn't mean that _you_ can't! That _all of us_ can't! You're not technically fully under the rules of the Observants when you're human, and none of us are because we're always human! We can…we can call a press conference and announce what's going on to everyone in the world so that they can prepare. And maybe we can use the op center to set it up so that it broadcast's in the Ghost Zone too. That way everyone will know to be on guard against Dark Danny."

Tucker smiled as well at the sudden genius plan, and nodded, adding, "Yeah, and doing that'll probably make it really difficult for Dark Danny to get away with anything or hide with everyone in _both_ realities looking for him."

Valerie, who had been taking all of this in with interest and was now grinning with approval, just smiled all the more and crossed her arms over her chest, "Now _that_ is not a bad idea, Time Ghost." She winked at Clockwork and then turned to Danny. "Heh, Phantom, you should have made me start listening to ghosts ages ago…they're pretty smart."

Valerie along with everyone else in the room (whose eyes had all turned to the young halfa now) were expecting him to maybe laugh at her joke, nod in agreement with the plan, and then to start leading them in strategizing for their interdimensional press conference.

To everyone's surprise, though, rather than doing all or any of these things, Danny just sighed and turned to the group of friends and family, a tinge of frustration actually apparent in his voice. "Guys, everything's not just 'okay' because I can tell everyone about Dark Danny. I mean, I mean…" he looked around nervously for a second as though searching his mind, "…won't the Observants find some way to get me in trouble for going against their orders since I'm technically half ghost? The last thing I need if I'm fighting Dark Danny is a ghost warrant out for my arrest. Can you imagine the field day Walker would have with that?" He seemed to be getting a bit carried away, making Sam raise an eyebrow.

Clockwork shook his head from his place on the couch. "Relax, young Phantom," he assured, "I myself am only bound and liable for official punishment if I tell other ghosts or make information about the Dark one public because they are my employers. And as for your half ghost heritage, no matter how much ectoplasmic blood flows through your veins, technically you are originally a human, Daniel, and thus bound by the laws of this land above all others. Any action you take here or in your human state in general cannot be used against you in the Ghost Zone. There is no risk…" Clockwork made sure to firmly add this last sentence, looking very closely at the young Phantom. Danny swallowed hard and sat to think for a moment. He seemed to be deep thought.

Everyone awaited what else he might have to say on this topic, and after a few moments the young halfa did pick up his head and speak again, though he suddenly refocused the conversation on a different, though equally pressing, subject, which quickly took everyone's minds off of letting the world know about Dark Danny. "What about Vlad Plasmius?" He looked to his friends and family seriously. "Are you all really okay with him coming here? With me asking him for help?" He flew up a bit, his emotions getting strong. The group blinked, surprised, and a little speechless at first.

They all looked at each other, each waiting for someone to speak up first.

"If there's no other way," said Tucker finally, hesitantly.

"I guess if we have to," grumbled Valerie.

"Danny, I know he's your archenemy but maybe the idea of life as a space nomad has changed him?" suggested Sam.

"If Dark Danny has both the powers of Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius, then it does make logical sense that combining your powers along with Vlad's and then adding in Danielle's to top it all off would beat him," contributed Jazz.

Danny turned to his parents now. "Mom, Dad, you were Vlad's best friends. I won't go get him unless you're okay with it."

Jack and Maddie looked at each other. Jack glanced down at the floor with hurt in his eyes. Maddie sighed. "Danny," she spoke first, "I think that if anyone can help Vlad do something good for the world to make up for all of the bad stuff he's done in the past, it's you."

Jack was silent for a moment longer. Finally he spoke up. "Danny, I know I'm not the brightest person and that it took me until the very end to see how he really was…but there used to be something good about him…something that he lost along the way. If you want to give him another chance and you think he can really help you, I think you should bring him back." He smiled his approval.

Danny smiled back. He looked around the room at all of the other smiling and assuring faces. "Well," he let out a sigh, "It's settled then. But first I think we should find Danielle. I'd like more than one ghost kid there with me to confront Vlad Plasmius."

"But Danny," Tucker started questioningly, "how are you gonna make sure Vlad doesn't betray you when he's here? You can't watch him all the time and we know how sneaky he is. You could wake up one morning with your head shaved and the Spector Deflector around your waist, hanging upside down in Skulker's lair!"

Danny hesitated at this very good point and thought.

Suddenly Maddie spoke up, an intriguing thought coming to mind. "Danny, speaking of the Specter Deflector…what if you made Vlad promise to wear it? I mean, if I lowered the power levels so that instead of shocking him it just inhibited his powers?"

Danny turned to his mother gave a nod at the excellent suggestion. "Actually, that's not a bad idea, Mom. But don't bother lowering the power level," he quickly assured her with a small smile. "As it is that belt just barely keeps him in check—trust me, I know. But…" a slight look of concern came to his face, "he's found ways to get out of that thing," Danny said, referring to how Vlad had managed to escape the device at least once after Danny had trapped him in it in Colorado during the Dalv Industries Mother/Son Science symposium scam. "I'd like a little more insurance…something more full proof…" he continued thinking, as did the other people in the room.

As Maddie was considering, another thought suddenly popped into her head: a question she'd actually been meaning to ask her son. "Danny, sorry sweetie, this doesn't really have anything to do with Vlad, but you said the belt effects you even in your human form, right?"

"Yeah?" Danny looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Maddie went on, obviously trying to sort something out in her head, "When I put it on you that first time after I'd invented it, why didn't it shock you then? Is there a flaw in it that I should know about before putting it on Vlad?"

Danny absorbed her question and thought back, but then just shook his head and sat down again. "No, there's no flaw—it just didn't affect me because Vlad had…" Suddenly, Danny's eyes popped open and a wide grin was on his face. "That's it!" He flew into the air in excitement!

"What?" asked everyone in unison, looking at him eagerly for an explanation.

Danny smirked and looked all around at them. "The belt didn't hurt me that first time because Vlad had shorted out my powers using the Plasmius Maximus."

The room was silent for a second…but then suddenly light bulbs started going off in several people's heads at once!

"So all we have to do is…" Tucker eagerly began first, standing up with a smile.

"Find the Plasmius Maximus…" Sam suddenly joined in, springing up as well.

"…And use it to take away Vlad's powers whenever we're not watching him!" Valerie instantly finished.

"If it makes you feel more comfortable Daniel." Clockwork nodded in agreement with the plan.

"Wait you mean you can turn Vladie human again?" asked Jack suddenly, scratching his head in just a touch of confusion.

Danny landed on the ground and transformed back into his human self. "No," he replied to his father with a smile, "But I _can_ stop him from using his powers whenever I'm not around to keep him in check."

"But Danny," questioned Maddie from beside her husband, "Where is this Plasmius Maximus thing?"

At that question, Danny sighed and had to consider. "It's probably in Vlad's mansion in Colorado," he finally replied. "Danielle and I can check it out later after we get her, just to be safe. Two ghost powered crime fighters is better than one when going into one of Vlad's booby trapped mansions."

Jack stood up, his eyes brightening with an idea. "Hey, Danny, why not just use the 'Fento Ecto Power Thingy' we built the other week to knock out Vladie's powers instead? It sounds like it could do the same thing as that gizmo of Vlad's, plus it's got the word Fenton in it!" He stepped forward and elbowed his son in anticipation of an affirmative answer.

Danny tried to smile appreciatively at his father but had to shake his head and answer in the negative. "Thanks Dad, but the Plasmius Maximus is smaller and easier to use—the 'Fenton Ecto Thingy' takes up so much power that we'd have to shut down the ghost portal _and_ the emergency ops center including the ghost shield every time we powered it up. If we're going to be attacked we can't be that vulnerable. And, uh, besides…" Danny added a little uncomfortably, "When you first made it and Jazz asked you if it hurt ghosts you said something along the lines of 'if the ghost is screaming then we know it's working'—we want to _incapacitate_ Vlad not _cripple him for life_."

"Though that would make kicking his butt easier," added a smiling Tucker. Danny smirked in his direction and stepped over, and the two high-fived.

"So, I guess the three of us are off to Colorado then?" Sam suddenly moved between the two boys, smiling and putting an arm around each of her friends (and making sure not to make eye contact with Valerie.)

"Danny," Maddie stepped forward now as well, touching a hand to her son's shoulder. "Why don't we go with you too?" she asked, motioning to Jack who smiled eagerly at the suggestion.

Danny blinked at the sudden proposition and couldn't help but look unsure at first. "I…well, it might be dangerous," he had to warn. "Vlad tended to booby-trap everything from ghosts, let alone humans…and bringing along that many people…"

Maddie crossed her arms in front of her chest and smiled determinedly. "Danny we want to be part of your ghost life just like we're part of your human life."

Danny's smile couldn't help but grow and glow just a little at this statement.

"Of course!" Jack affirmed, swinging a fist through the air. "We'll all go—we can take the Fenton Speeder! I just finished rebuilding it! Clockwork, you wanna ride shotgun?" he turned to the (now in adult form) ghost.

Clockwork smiled at the invitation but had to raise his hand and shake his head, declining. "No thank you, Jack Fenton. I have separate business to attend to in the Ghost Zone at present. I will return if I come across any news you should know about. And Danny…" he turned to the young phantom, "As for Danielle, I believe that at least until the time of the Disasteroid she had been spending her free time in the Ghost Zone exploring. For her safety I have sent a message on to our allies to keep a watch on her if they should see her." He turned back to all of the Fentons and assorted members of Team Phantom. "Goodbye and thank you again for your hospitality…And I hope in the future I can get the recipe for some more of this tea." He winked and bowed and then (looking like a child now) phased through the floor to get to the portal in the basement and return to the Ghost Zone once more.

Jack turned back to the group as the ghost took his leave, a determined smile set upon his face. "Alright well then everyone, let's get downstairs! First we'll take a flight into the Ghost Zone to find girl Danny, and then we'll take a road trip to Colorado to break into my son's arch nemesis' house and steal that Plasmus—uh, Plasmatic, uh…"

Danny laughed to himself and turned to Jack. "Plasmius Maximus, Dad."

Jack smiled at the assistance. "Right right, thanks son. Could use a spiffier name though…" Jack walked toward the basement with a hand to his chin in thought.

Danny couldn't help but shake his head to himself a little in amusement. '_So this is what my life's gonna be like now that my parents know, huh?'_ he thought to himself. He approached his father, stopping him before he left the living room. "Actually Dad, about the Ghost Zone and Colorado, I think we can kill two birds with one stone. If Dani's been spending her time in the Ghost Zone then she must be using a Ghost Portal. Vlad's Wisconsin one is still toast since the GIW trashed it…." Danny couldn't help but grin a little to himself at the memory of the Guys In White destroying Vlad's Mansion all thanks to the prank he and Tucker had pulled on that 'crazed up fruit loop' , "and I basically gutted the one he had in his house here to help us rebuild _our_ portal," he went on. "The Colorado one should still be in tact though and that's probably the one Dani's been using to go back and forth between worlds."

"Excellent plan, son! Girl Danny can lead us to the Colorado portal!" concurred Jack, slapping Danny on the back. "Ha, you get your planning skills from me, you know that?"

Danny smiled and rolled his eyes a little. "Sure, Dad." He sighed and stepped to the center of the room with a determined smile on his face. "I'm Going Ghost!" And with that Danny transformed back to his Phantom self. He flew up into the air a little and proceeded to 'rally the troops'. "Alright, everyone downstairs and we can get going!" he announced.

The group nodded and made their way to the stairwell to the basement, with Danny following still in Phantom form behind them. However, it seemed to the halfa that someone was missing and he glanced over his shoulder…only to see with surprise Valerie walking toward the door to leave the house, a listless look on her face.

Danny quickly flew over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Valerie, aren't you coming?" he smiled at her hopefully.

Valerie turned and shook her head, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "No, I…think it'd be better if I went home, Danny." She pulled something out of her knapsack and offered it to him. "Here's the Dani's tracker. Good luck." She did her best to smile.

Danny still looked at her strangely. "And…why are you passing up finally getting a chance to be part of an actual epic ghost battle?" He had to ask—she'd seemed so enthusiastic about helping before and now…she was just going. Why?

Valerie looked at him…and then she just sighed, glancing off to the side a little. "Danny, look…in case you haven't noticed, I don't think your girlfriend likes me very much."

Danny blinked at the comment but then smiled once again and removed his hand, landing in front of her, still in Phantom form. "Don't worry about Sam, Valerie, she's just still accepting that you've really changed this time. Just give her a little while to get used to you as a member of Team Phantom, okay?"

Valerie smiled at him. "You really want me to come, Phantom?"

Danny just laughed and let out a sigh, rolling his eyes. "Just as much as you know you want to come so that you can finally say that you kicked Danny Phantom's butt, even if it's a different one than me."

Valerie grinned and chuckled as well. "Well then let's get to it!" And with that she raced to the basement steps.

Jack had been holding the door open for everyone and as Valerie dashed past him and down there with everyone else, it was now just him and Danny still in the living room. "And I'll put the house on ecto-alert in case the evil Danny shows up!" Jack announced.

Jack's words processed and then suddenly Danny's eyes flew open wide. "No, wait, Dad, don't!"

However the button had already been pressed and suddenly alarms began to go off throughout the house! "Ghostly presence detected in Fenton home. Engaging attack mode in three, two…Ghostly presence gone. Defense system going into standby mode." Suddenly finding himself surrounded by warming up ecto guns, Danny had transformed back to his human form just before they were about to go off and zap him with ecto rays.

Danny looked to his father. Jack just glanced away sheepishly. "Uh, sorry, Danny, I forgot about…"

Danny just smiled and finished walking over. "It's okay, Dad. One of the advantages of being a ghost and a human—when something comes along to threaten one of them, I can always transform into the other one," he said referring to how changing had made the alarms cease. Jack smiled, and the two began to head downstairs.

* * *

The whole extended membership of Team Phantom was now down in the lab where the newly rebuilt Specter Speeder was now located. Danny looked at the familiar transportation device and then turned to his mother. "Mom, just please tell me you installed a few more seats in this thing or something since it got destroyed. It already gets kinda cramped with just Sam, Tucker and me. Four more people might just put it over the top."

Maddie smiled. "Well actually sweetie, I was thinking that trips to the Ghost Zone might be a little more 'family based' from now on, so over the weekend…" She picked up a remote from the lab table and pressed a button. Suddenly, the Speeder converted so that it had an extra upper compartment. The vehicle could easily accommodate their entire party now. "I added a few things." She smiled proudly to herself.

Jack stepped forward enthusiastically and grabbed the remote from Maddie. He slammed down another button with a smile and suddenly a large gun-like weapon appeared from the top of the Speeder. "Yeah, and I added a bunch of cool ecto weapons that'll rip the plasma skin right off of any dirty gho—"

The four kids, especially Danny, raised questioning eyebrows at Jack. He blinked, obviously suddenly realizing his words. "Uh, I mean, uh…" he sighed sheepishly and pressed another button that made the gun that had suddenly sprung up look much smaller and more harmless, "That'll gently knock out any ecto-American we might come across…" he finished with a frown.

Danny couldn't help but smile and walk toward his Dad, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for taking my advice about toning down the 'lethalness' of the ecto weapons, Dad. " He leaned in closer and whispered, "But don't be afraid to make _some_ stuff that can still kick some serious butt—after all, just because there are good ghosts like me doesn't mean the bad ones don't deserve a hard time." He winked and Jack's happy grin instantly returned at this affirmation that he hadn't offended his son too much, and that in fact Danny still liked some of his original weapons intentions.

Maddie walked over to the Specter Speeder and climbed in, beginning to power it up. "Jack, can you help me make sure we have all the supplies?"

Jack smiled and bounded over to the Speeder. "You got it, Maddie!"

As the adults did a final check on the Speeder, the kids huddled together and began to discuss their plan of action.

Danny turned to Valerie. "So, do you think your tracker will work in the Ghost Zone?"

Valerie took out the small beeping device from her knapsack again and shrugged. "I can't see why not. At least we have your ghost sense to rely on if it doesn't, though."

Sam scoffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.. "Yeah, if the place wasn't filled with ghosts that make it go off every two seconds." She hadn't meant to sound harsh but obviously part of her still wasn't quite ready to accept Valerie into the group, especially after all of the other times that the girl had tried to join their gang only to return to her Danny Phantom hunting ways (and then of course there had been her brief fling with Danny not too many months ago).

Valerie, meanwhile, just blinked at Sam, a bit taken aback by her sudden sharp tone.

Danny scowled at Sam slightly and then turned back to Valerie. "Uh…actually Sam's right about the ghost sense thing…" he had to admit, "Besides, I can't sense halfas, just ghosts…at least for now," he added, referring to the fact that Dark Danny seemed to be able to detect the presence of hybrids.

Valerie, choosing to ignore Sam once again, just smiled at Danny at his explanation. "Well, I'm sure we'll find her with or without my tracker's help. After all, how big could the Ghost Zone be anyway?"

Danny's face went blank and he just looked at Tucker and Sam, who returned his wide eyed gaze. Sam sighed and dragged a hand down her face, looking listless. "This is gonna be a _long_ day…"

"Alright—everyone on board!" Jack suddenly yelled from the Speeder, honking the horn. It was up and hovering. The kids raced toward it, but Danny just walked toward the portal to open it.

Jack called out to his son from the cockpit of the floating device. "Danny, I can just use the remote to do that. Come on, I want you to see the nice new inside of the Speeder."

Danny pressed the button to open the portal doors. "It's okay, Dad," he assured, "I actually usually just float around outside of the Speeder on these trips. It makes talking to and fighting the ghosts a lot easier."

"Well…alright, but be careful Danny!" Maddie couldn't help but call to her son from the shotgun seat.

Jack just laughed. "He'll be fine Maddie—he's a Fenton! Now let's punch it!"

And with that the Speeder and Danny entered the ghost zone to find Danielle…and the Plasmius Maximus.

* * *

**A/N:**

Alright, that's all for now :) I have a little more written so I'll try and post asap. Coming up next—adventures in the Ghost Zone, we find out what Danielle's been up to, and maybe we understand why Danny's kind of freaking a little about spilling the beans about Dark Danny to the public ^_^

Thanks for reading and for reviews!

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


	6. Castles and Kid Ghosts

**A/N:**

Hiya readers :) Here's another chapter for you guys! Sorry for delays but I do so much writing with all the other fics I have going that it's crazy sometimes, lol! But anyway I hope you enjoy this installment ^_^ Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Review please and thanks to those who have already done so ;)

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 6:**

**Castles and Kid Ghosts**

* * *

"_Oh_…so you were just trying to stop that dog ghost and that Technus guy from hurting Axiom Labs…" Valerie was talking to Danny from her seat inside the Speeder. As she spoke she stared out the windows, fascinated by the sights passing her by.

"Exactly!" Danny smiled at Valerie, flying alongside her window, happy that she seemed to be understanding his explanations for all those misunderstandings between them from the past.

Valerie smiled at him, taking her eyes off of the sights of the Ghost Zone for just a moment. "Danny, the only thing I don't understand though is why didn't you just tell everyone you were a ghost right from the start? I mean, at least you would have been able to explain yourself when stuff like that happened…and you wouldn't have had me trying to introduce you to one of Masters' ecto guns every other day." She chuckled a little.

Danny, though still smiling, couldn't help but sigh at that question. A far away look came to his eyes as he replied with a shrug, "It all just worked better being a secret, I guess—things might have been harder for Danny _Phantom_ but they were easier for Danny _Fenton_. I mean, I was getting in trouble for breaking curfew, and my grades were falling, and I had to lie a lot, but there were also no reporters or screaming fans or merchandising." Valerie's eyes became empathetic, as did Tucker and Sam's (who were seated in the section of seats behind her). Jazz, sitting next to Valerie, looked at her little brother with concern as well. Danny sighed again to himself. "In a way, I wish I could make it a secret again…"

Sam reached forward and put a hand on the window in a gesture of comfort to her boyfriend. She tried to smile supportively at him. Seeing her do so out of the corner of his eye, Danny turned to her and smiled back…though his eyes still seemed troubled.

Overhearing the conversation, Maddie turned back from her place in the driver's seat of the Speeder to look at her son with her own touch of concern. "Danny, I know it's been hard with all of the attention you've been getting lately and how things have changed with everyone knowing that you're the ghost boy, but if it's any consolation your father and I wouldn't trade knowing the truth about your life for anything in the entire world." She smiled.

Danny smiled at her as well. "Thanks, Mom," her replied sincerely.

"I just wish you had told us sooner, Danny," she went on with a sympathetic smile, "...even if you weren't ready yet for the whole world to know. It just seems like we could have been helping you or something…"

Maddie almost looked guilty as she said this, much to Danny's surprise, and he couldn't help but mirror this emotion in his own face for being the one who had been lying about his true identity in the first place. "It's okay, Mom," he quickly assured her, flying up a little closer to the front end of the Speeder, "And, believe me, it's not that I didn't want your help or that I didn't trust you guys…" he hesitated for a just a second, looking a little sheepish, "Well…okay, there _was_ a little while when I didn't _entirely_ trust what you guys would do…" Danny couldn't help but recall some of his doubts and worries from prior to the Reality Gauntlet incident when he'd finally gotten the chance (though no one but himself, Sam and Tucker remembered it) to see first hand that his parents would truly accept him no matter what.

Maddie couldn't help but blink at him expressing a doubt like this and ask sincerely, "But Danny, why would you ever think you couldn't trust us?"

"Yes, son," added Jack reassuringly, turning to look at Danny now as well from his place in the shotgun seat and finally ungluing his eyes from the intense and fascinating sights of the Ghost Zone around him. "We love you! What would ever give you the idea that we wouldn't love the _ghost_ you too?"

Danny raised an eyebrow and looked at Jazz, Sam, and Tucker. Instantly the four of them grinned and then imitated in unison, "Jack, let's destroy the ghost. No, Maddie, let's dissect the ghost. No Jack, let's tear the ghost apart molecule by molecule." The group couldn't help breaking into chuckles upon finishing.

Jack and Maddie just blinked and looked at each other in confusion.

Maddie then turned back to Danny like she was about to say something but Danny waved her off with a smile and readily explained, "It's okay, guys—I know 'you would have been scared too' Dad and that 'you love me' Mom." He quoted them exactly from what they had said after finding out about his secret identity during the incident with Freak Show. "So let's just put it behind us and take care of this Dark Danny mess once and for all." A determined look came into his eyes.

Maddie merely blinked in confusion again though. "Danny…how did you know that was what we were going to say?"

"Yeah, son…" Jack was looking at him in a serious amount of confusion now too…but then his eyes lit up! "Don't tell me you have psychic powers too? Man that would be sweet!" He smiled hopefully.

Danny laughed and rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the question. "No, Dad…" he shook his head, "No psychic powers." He turned back to his Mom to answer her question now about how he had known their responses, though he wasn't sure how his parents might take knowing about the case of the Reality Gauntlet, especially on top of being told about Dark Danny and Danielle all in just the last hour. And then of course finding out their son was part ghost not more than a few days ago… Finally, he decided that details about the Freakshow thing weren't a priority now and to just keep it vague and simple instead for the moment. "And Mom, as for how I knew…Let's just say I've had a lot of time to think about the 'reality' of losing my secret…"

Maddie raised an eyebrow curiously at this reply, sensing there might be more…but decided to leave it alone for now. Instead she just gave him a nod and an understanding smile and then turned to Valerie. "Valerie, should we keep going in this direction?"

Valerie broke her thoughts from Danny for a moment and scrutinized her tracker. "Turn approximately eight degrees to the right…that should lock us more onto Danielle's course."

Danny breathed a sigh of relief that his mother hadn't pressed him about knowing her and his father's reactions so well, and then flew to the rear end of the Speeder again. He turned to Sam with a smile. "Psychic powers?" He chuckled at the idea from his father. "Sounds like ANOTHER rejected plot line for my life." Danny couldn't help but think back to the 'Spector Detectors' thing from this morning in school and it only made his grin grow.

Sam laughed along with him. "Tell me about it. If you had been able to read minds all this time you would have figured me out a long time ago…"

She reached her hand a little bit up the glass again and he pushed his ghostly one against it from the other side. The two teens blushed. Valerie and Jazz 'awed' and Tucker rolled his eyes and pulled up a game to play on his PDA. "Man, the two of you SERIOUSLY need to get a room!"

* * *

"It looks like she's nearby…" Danny looked up from scrutinizing Valerie's tracking device along with her and smiled at the familiar sight ahead of him and the Speeder. "Danielle must have met Dora."

In front of Danny Phantom and his family and friends in the Specter Speeder was a large, forest-covered island floating in the eerie atmosphere of the Ghost Zone complete with a full-fledged medieval castle.

Valerie nodded, looking toward the castle as well. "Yup. According to this thing either she's in there or she dumped the tracker there at some point."

Danny nodded with a smile and then flew up to the windshield of the Specter Speeder and addressed his mother behind the wheel. "Just keep heading forward, Mom. You should be able to find a place to land near the moat."

Despite her son's assuring words and smile, Maddie couldn't help but look down at the island with some degree of concern. It was such a strange place after all and there was something almost dismal about it. "Danny, are you sure it's—"

Danny phased into the Speeder (since they were going to land now anyway) and smiled at her, understanding how intimidating some of the lairs in the Ghost Zone could be when you thought about landing right in the middle of one for the first time. And even though ever since Dora had taken over power from her brother and time had started moving forward in her realm again things had started looking a bit nicer here, a large, stone castle seeming right from the dark ages was still a large, stone castle seeming right from the dark ages. "Don't worry, Mom—that's Dora's realm. She's a friend of ours. Sam, Tucker and me helped her defeat her evil brother a while ago and ever since then she's just been ruling happily over her subjects." Maddie and Jack raised an eyebrow at this last statement. Danny explained. "She's sort of a medieval princess ghost. Don't worry—like I said, she's one of the good guys."

Maddie and Jack smiled at each other and at their son and nodded. "Whatever you say, Danny," Maddie replied supportively and with that began to guide the Speeder down in the direction of a clearing near the castle entrance.

The speeder landed in the shadow of Dora's looming castle. And the castle grounds seemed quiet enough…but maybe…too quiet? Not a ghost to be seen, not a sound to be heard… And yet just feeling though like there was more power here than Dora and Danielle would have put together, Danny scowled and tensed himself, ready for a fight if necessary._ 'I'm not prepared enough for Dark Danny yet but if he's here I'll do my best…'_

"Danny?" Maddie asked, starting to feel concerned again especially from the look on her son's face.

"Just…one second, Mom… Sorry…" Danny took an inhale through his nose, surprised that Dora or at least one of her subjects hadn't come out to greet the arrival of such a large vehicle as the Speeder.

Several seconds later, though, as they waited for a welcome committee that wasn't coming (and as Danny just kept being able to sense more major ghost power than just Dora and his cousin would have without being able to come up with any good explanation for why that might be), the silence was starting to get to Danny. He finally let out a breath and relaxed a little since nothing was jumping out to attack them or anything, and decided to try and make conversation with his parents again…something he should probably mention to them coming to mind now. He turned to them. "I guess we can open the doors—it seems okay. But I should warn you guys though that sometimes Dora appears as a…"

"DRAGON!" suddenly yelled Maddie, Jack, Jazz and Valerie all in unison.

Danny blinked and turned to face forward again, and indeed suddenly a large blue dragon had appeared right before the Speeder, roaring and rearing up on its hind legs!

"It's okay, I've got it!" yelled Jack, suddenly pressing the button for the Ecto Stun Guns on the top of the Speeder.

"Wait, _don't_!" yelled Danny, suddenly phasing out of the Speeder and making a shield to deflect the beam away from both himself and Dora as it fired out!

"Danny, don't worry—we'll save you!" yelled Maddie, suddenly grabbing the Speeder controls and accelerating toward the dragon.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, stop!" yelled Tucker, pinned against the seat by the velocity of the Speeder.

"You don't understand, _it's_ _Dora_!" yelled Sam, pinned against her seat as well.

'_A dragon…_' thought Valerie to herself, her thoughts breaking through her fear and surprise, '_It looks like that ghost dragon that was at the dance that time…_' Valerie's instantly eyes widened as she realized that this might be the ghost friend Danny was referring to. In addition, Valerie was well aware of the mistakes that could come from being hasty with ghosts. "Wait, maybe we should—"

Danny, meanwhile, was just pouring all the strength he had into making strong enough ghost shield that even being rammed by the Speeder at full blast wouldn't be able to break it (though he really wasn't sure if it work)…when luckily though, at the protests of her son's friends, as well as the sight of her son in front of the accelerating Speeder and NOT moving out of the way to give them a clear target on the dragon, Maddie managed to step on the breaks and stop the machine just in time.

Catching his breath and finally lowering his ghost shields (and with the Speeder literally only mere inches from his body in front of the large blue dragon), Danny breathed out a sigh of relief and then looked directly at his once again confused parents. "Mom, Dad, _this_ is Dora!" he announced, motioning behind him. Danny then turned around to address his ghost friend properly. "Uh, hello Dora." He smiled at her a bit sheepishly…especially since a flying device with ecto weapons at the ready that had just tried to attack her was right behind him.

The dragon blinked down at Danny Phantom…then smiled. Before everyone's eyes it instantly changed into a young, blonde ghost in a blue dress. "Danny, what a pleasure to see you!" she greeted warmly.

"Good to see you too, Dora." Danny smiled, happy she didn't seem upset about the near 'battle', but then a look of concern came to his eyes. "What's with the dragon form, though—is your brother trying to take over again? I know Master's Blasters defeated him when he attacked Amity Park the other week, but who knows how shoddy the work of those losers was." He rolled his eyes to the side.

Dora laughed at the question. "Oh no, Danny—he's actually been quite mellow since I destroyed his amulet. That attack you speak of was the result of him stealing my amulet, actually." Dora touched the green gem around her neck. "Some strange capped figure came in the night and snatched it from me and threw it to the prince. It was the oddest thing?"

Danny scowled. "_Plasmius_. Of course…it figures he was behind all of those ghost attacks, and all to make Master's Blasters look good." His eyes glowed green a bit with anger.

Dora put a hand on Danny's shoulder and smiled. "Now, now, Danny, you know as well as I do that letting your emotions carry you away can turn you into something monstrous." She chuckled, referring to her dragon form and how it was controlled by emotions in certain cases.

Instead of laughing along with her though, the comment actually made Danny's eyes widen in surprise a bit and he couldn't help but pull back just a little from her. He recalled how his own emotional grief at losing his friends and family had caused the creation of Dark Danny. '_Clockwork said he didn't tell anybody. She can't know about him and what happened…and how this all started…right?' _

Dora looked concerned at Danny's strange reaction. "Danny, are you alright?"

Danny suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head, it finally clicking with him what she had actually meant but her comment. "Uh, yeah. Uh, monstrous, dragons…heh, heh, good one. Um…" Danny tried to recall why he was here in the first place. Suddenly he blinked and looked at Dora, his usual smile returning. "Listen, Dora you haven't seen someone around here who looks like me but younger and a girl, have you?"

Danny expected a puzzled look at this strange question but Dora merely smiled and replied, "Actually, that's why I was in my dragon form and why I roared when I cam upon you just now. I was just playing a game of hide and seek with a friend of yours and some of her new playmates, and I'm it."

"So Danielle _is_ here?" Danny's eyes lit up and his relief was complete as he realized that he must have been sensing other powerful ghost energy from whoever these 'playmates' of Danielle's were.

"Yes, indeed," Dora assured. Her face fell a bit. "I found the poor thing wandering the Ghost Zone alone a few weeks ago. I asked her if she was lost and she informed me that she was a recent halfa and friend of yours who had spent most of her time so far in the human world and wanted a chance to explore the Ghost Zone as well." Her smile returned. "I offered her a place to stay and ever since then she 's been living with me in my castle and has been wonderful company. In fact she's brought a lot of guests to my realm."

Danny smiled thankfully at Dora for her hospitality. "I just hope she hasn't been too much trouble—she can be a bit of a handful sometimes…"

Dora laughed. "Not at all Danny—in fact she reminds me of myself at her age...Come on, I'll yell olly olly oxen free and we can end the game so you can see her." Dora looked over Danny's shoulder. "And then you can come into my castle to relax and introduce me to your companions."

Danny turned back and realized that she meant his friends and family in the Speeder. He turned back to Dora and nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Dora. Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Not too many minutes later the Fentons, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie were all sitting around a large table in the main hall inside of Dora's castle, a warm green ecto fire giving a comfortable atmosphere to the room.

"Wow," Valerie said to herself, reclining back in her seat, "Who knew that one day I'd be sitting down and hanging out with a ghost?"

Jack leaned over to her with a grin. "I know! This is the second time today I've spent some one on one time with a ghost and it's actually been really great!" He turned to Dora again now. "So you're a ghost that can change form, huh?"

Dora smiled from her place at the head of the table and touched her amulet. "Yes. My brother shares the same power but he chose to use it for evil. Only recently because of Danny and his brave friends was I able to overcome him and save our realm."

Danny, still in Phantom form, smiled at Dora from his seat. "No problem, Dora."

Dora smiled back at him and then stood up. "Well Danny, are you ready for me to call out to Danielle?"

Danny, wanting to surprise Danielle (and also, of course, wanting his whole family to be present and ready to greet her) had asked Dora to wait until they were all settled in the castle to alert Danielle of his presence. Now though he nodded, his smile growing at the idea of really seeing her again. "I'm ready."

Dora touched her amulet and slowly reformed into the dragon. In her booming dragon voice she yelled, "OLLY OLLY OXEN FREEEEE!" The castle rumbled with the power of her call.

"Whoo hoo!" came a familiar yell from far off.

It appeared, from the view out of the large castle windows, that there was a form zooming toward the castle from the woods and then instantly the form zipped into one of the windows and Danielle appeared (in her ghost form), floating next to Dora and smiling. "Ha! I knew you'd never be able to find us, Dora."

Dora smiled and transformed back into a young woman, floating high in the air. "Danielle, there's someone here for you…" Dora gestured across the room where Danny was currently floating.

Danielle looked and suddenly her eyes widened. "DANNY!" The smile on her face beamed as she flew toward and then into the teenage Phantom, knocking him against the wall with her hug. "Danny! Danny! Danny! I missed you!"

Danny laughed at her cute enthusiasm. "Okay, okay, take it easy—I missed you too, Danielle!" He hugged her back.

Eventually Danielle released her grip on him a little and looked up at him, smiling. "Danny, you were so brave getting all the ghosts together to save everyone from the Disasteroid. It was such a great idea—it worked and plus we don't live in a world ruled by Vlad. I'm just sorry everyone had to find out about your secret identity." She looked concerned.

Danny smiled at her with a half lidded gaze. "Don't worry Danielle, it hasn't been so bad. And speaking of which, there's some people I'd like you to meet…" He gestured downward, and grabbed her hand, flying down with her to the table.

As she landed before Maddie and Jack Fenton, Danielle Fenton's eyes were very wide and she seemed rather nervous. Danny cleared his throat, squeezing her hand a little to comfort her. "Mom, Dad—this is Danielle Fenton…uh, _Phantom_."

Danielle stepped forward shyly, not having expected this sudden introduction. Feeling as though as a courtesy she should transform to her human self to greet the Fentons, she did so. Danny knelt beside her and whispered in her ear. "It's okay, say hi."

"Um…hi Mr. Fenton, hi Mrs. Fenton. It's nice to meet you," she said politely.

Danny stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her with a bit of a smirk. "You pop in my room the first time I meet you and start eating my food and messing with my stuff, but you meet them and you do all but curtsey."

Danielle blushed and smiled up at the Fenton parents.

Maddie knelt down and spoke softly to the young girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you Danielle. Danny's told us a lot about you."

Jack smiled and stepped forward as well. "Ah it does my heart good to see another Fenton ghost fighter! And she looks like fun! Especially if she managed to annoy _you_, Danny. You know, you're a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes!"

Jazz smirked. "Yeah, besides Danny could use a little taste of what it's like to have a kid sibling pestering him all the time!"

Danielle giggled at the greetings from her 'aunt', 'uncle' and 'other cousin'. Danny just rolled his eyes and gave his Dad and sister a look. Jack went forward slapped him on the back with a grin. "Ah we're just messing with you, son—made the girl happy though."

Danielle turned to Danny again now. "So, you're parents are okay with us as…uh…" Danielle wasn't sure how much the two knew about her origins.

Danny smiled. "It's okay, Danielle—they know all about the cloning and Plasmius. And, actually we'd like you to stay with us for a while at Fentonworks."

Danielle smiled and turned Phantom, flying up. "Really?"

"Sure, Danielle!" he assured her. "We have some things to talk about though…" his smile fell a bit (of course).

Danielle looked at him with concern. "Another ghost problem?"

Danny sighed, and couldn't help an almost imperceptible glance in Dora's direction. "I'll, um…I'll fill you in after we get back to Fenton Works and have some dinner." He turned to Danielle again and did his best to smile normally once more.

Danielle's smile returned (to his relief) at the idea of dinner with her extended family. "Great!" She turned back to Dora, her face falling a bit at having to leave her friend. "Is it okay if I go, Dora?"

Dora smiled and came forward, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I think it would be a good idea for you to spend some time with Danny." She glanced at Danny, then added, "Though I hope you'll come back for visits soon."

Danielle, with her smile back again, was about to reply in the affirmative when the (familiar?) voices of two other ghosts suddenly came within earshot…

"Sheesh, Young Blood, I told you we shouldn't hide in the tombs underneath the moat! It took forever to get out of there. And now we smell like four hundred year old seaweed—Eww!"

"Aw, pipe down, Dexter, it was a great place! _Dora_ didn't find us, _did_ she?"

Poindexter and Young Blood flew in to the castle at this point. "Hey Dora, what's—" they began in unison. And then suddenly they both noticed Danny Phantom… "_YOU_?"

"You two?" Danny flew up, scowling. "I was hoping to avoid a fight while I was here but—" He began to generate an ecto beam just as Youngblood and Poindexter did the same.

"Danny, Youngblood, Dexter, wait, stop!" yelled Danielle, instantly flying up between the two boys and her cousin.

All three boys stopped preparing their attacks. Danielle flew to Danny. "Danny, they're my friends!"

She turned to Youngblood and Poindexter now, scowling. "And Danny's my cousin! So no fighting!"

All three boys landed on the floor, a bit in awe at the information they had just heard. Danny was the first to speak. "But Danielle, how can you be friends with them? They're the bad guys!"

"Hey," yelled Poindexter defensively, "We're not the bullies here—you were the one who was going to shoot first and ask questions later!"

"Yeah, you stupid Phantom! If you wanna try and yell at us in the human world that's fine, but you're not the boss of us in the Ghost Zone!" added Youngblood. "I just can't believe anyone as cool as Danielle is related to you!"

"Guys, _enough_!" Danielle announced again. She turned to Danny to explain things better. "Danny, I've just been playing with them for a few weeks—they're actually not so bad once you get to know them. Come on, you looked past all the stuff _I_ did and gave _me_ a second chance? Remember?" Then she turned to her two friends again. "And I know you guys aren't Danny Phantom fans but that doesn't change stuff between us? Right?"

All three boys just remained standing there with frustrated scowls for a couple of seconds longer…and then finally Danny had to sigh in a bit of defeat. '_And there's that whole 'second chance' thing, again_..._Great_…' "Fine…" So, finally, hesitantly, he approached the two boys. He spoke firmly but civilly, looking at both of them. "Thank you guys for being friends with my cousin." Danny flew close to them, scowling once more. "But if I ever find out that either of you ever hurts her I'll shove you _both_ in a Fenton Thermos and let _Valerie_ use you for target practice."

The two boys gulped as Valerie smiled devilishly behind Danny and patted her bag full of ecto weapons.

Youngblood just blew a raspberry at Danny in response and flew away. Poindexter followed behind him. "There's no need to be uncivil!" he added before exiting the castle.

Danny turned to Danielle again now, his scowl gone…and replaced by a look of utter confusion. "Okay, Danielle, you have every right to pick you your friends are, but…what is up with those two?" He jerked his thumb in the direction the two ghosts had just gone.

Danielle grinned a little more. "It's okay, Danny," she looked back in the directions they had flown, "They really aren't so bad once you make friends with them and get to know them." She then turned back and leaned in to whisper not so very quietly to her cousin, "Actually…I think they both have crushes on me." She pulled back and giggled.

Danny's eyes widened at this statement and the girls and Maddie couldn't help but look at each other and say, "Aw!"

Danny just continued to look dumbstruck though. "Wow, this is awkward." Despite only knowing Danielle for a few months and their strange genetic relationship he couldn't help but feel like a big brother toward her…and the idea of Youngblood and Poindexter…with crushes…it was too creepy for him to process.

Danielle, meanwhile, just laughed at him. "And anyway…" she flew up and her fists started glowing, "Even if they did pull some bad guy/villain stuff on me, ever since you stabilized me I can take care of myself."

'_That's what we're counting on_…' Danny couldn't help but swallow hard as this assurance from her only made an image of Dark Danny with all of his power come into his mind.

Danielle interrupted his thought though, calling out to his friends. "Come on Sam, Tucker, Valerie, let's go! I can't wait to see Amity Park again!" She excitedly flew into the RV and transformed back to her human self, finding a seat for herself in the middle section. The other kids (except for Danny…and Sam) followed her inside. She popped her head out of the open door again, this time addressing the adults. "And thanks again for inviting me over Mr. and Mrs. Fenton—it's been fun here in the Ghost Zone but I've really missed Danny."

The adults approached the Speeder now too. Maddie entered and reached back and put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "We're just happy that we found you, sweetie. A little girl like you shouldn't be roaming our world or the Ghost Zone alone. And since you're Danny's cousin why don't you call us Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack."

"Thanks…Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack!" Danielle came forward and hugged both older Fentons in response to Maddie's kind offer before resuming her seat in the middle part of the Speeder.

Danny, meanwhile, flew over to Dora now to say his goodbyes. "Thanks again for looking after Danielle, Dora."

Dora nodded. "Of course, Danny. Along with her being lovely company, I received a message from Clockwork not too long ago asking anyone who had seen her to keep a particularly good eye on her... Is something wrong?" She looked concerned.

Sam, hearing this question asked of her boyfriend, was prepared to head over to comfort him and help explain the situation to Dora about Dark Danny…

To her surprise, though, Danny instead replied to the ecto princess before him, "It's just a…a personal matter. But Dora, listen," he looked her in the eye firmly, "Just keep your amulet handy and…" he took a deep breath and closed his eyes and added, "and if you see me again, unless I'm with some or all of the people I'm with now, don't let me come here, okay?"

She looked confused. "Danny, I—"

"And if you see me and anything seems suspicious about me—_anything at all_," he opened his eyes and looked at her very seriously right now, "Just tell me to leave and if I won't, fight me off no matter what I say. I promise I won't get mad or anything," he added to bring a bit of levity to the moment, though not very successfully.

"Danny," the concern in Dora's eyes was only growing, "If you need help with something please let me know. It would be my honor to repay the debt I owe you for saving me and this realm."

Dora looked so sincere, and a regretful look couldn't help but cross Danny's face. "I'm sorry Dora…just please do what I said and," he sighed to himself, unbelieving that he was adding this last part, "…And try to keep Youngblood and Dexter around. If they're friends of Danielle's then they can't be that bad…plus with your powers combined you can put up a stronger fight. Just as a precaution…Uh…you never know what's out there…" He glanced down.

Dora hesitated at first…but then finally nodded. "As you wish, Danny Phantom. I trust your judgment." She bowed and Danny felt the guilt well up inside of him.

He flew back to the Speeder, scooping up Sam along the way (without looking at her, his thoughts were so preoccupied at the moment) and then phasing her through the wall and setting her down in her seat inside of the flying device.

From her seat, Sam looked out her window at her boyfriend hovering just beyond the glass, a distracted look on his face. Danny glanced at her for a moment but then, seeing the curious look on her face, gulped and turned away, seeming to return to his thoughts. Sam was about to say something about the incident that had just taken place (and WHY he had been so vague with Dora and about such an important matter) but, looking around at all of the people with them at the moment who could overhear what she wanted to say, decided waiting until the next time she found herself alone with her boyfriend might be more prudent.

* * *

**A/N:**

I hope you guys liked this :) Please review and let me know what you think! And I promise, some action and butt-kicking stuff will be coming up soon ;)

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


	7. The Plasmius Maximus aka The FentonFryer

**A/N:**

Hey all! Sorry for the delay—been working on a few other fanfic projects, lol. Anyway, here's the next chapter of this story…and something fun happens at the end ;) Lol and, just because this show's canon is CRAZY, seriously if I make some kind of error about something's location or I say that something exists when it got blown up in season three or something, please let me know! Thanks guys and I hope you enjoy this and please review :D

**PHANTOM REALITY**

**Chapter 7:**

**The Plasmius Maximus aka The Fenton Fryer**

* * *

"So Danny, why do you wanna go to Vlad's house? Are we gonna ransack it for ecto weapons and then mess up all his stuff?" asked Danielle eagerly, now in her ghost form and floating outside of the Speeder alongside her 'cousin'.

Danny laughed, but shook his head. "No, uh…actually we just need one weapon in particular…for…something…" Danny then turned away, glancing around like he was searching some more for sight of their destination…and didn't elaborate…a fact that Sam, from inside of the Speeder, picked up on but decided to mention later along with the discussion she was planning to have with her boyfriend about why he hadn't mentioned Dark Danny to Dora.

The group was currently flying toward Vlad's Colorado portal entrance, which Danielle was directing them toward, and according to her they were almost there.

Suddenly Danielle, who was just smiling happily and looking around a little with her cousin, pointed forward into the Ghost Zone and announced brightly, "There it is, everyone!"

Danny blinked (coming out of some thoughts) and then looked in the direction Danielle was pointing. He quickly had to smile and roll his eyes at the sight they were approaching: a large, floating foam green sports finger with the Packers logo on it. Danny couldn't help but sigh and smirk a little recall how the cover for Vlad's Wisconsin portal had been a large floating football. "So subtle Vlad, so subtle. Let me guess—the cover up for the Amity Park one is a billboard that says "Go Packers!" ?"

Danielle laughed, as did the passengers of the Speeder, and the two halfas and the Speeder flew toward the entrance, going through it.

* * *

A few seconds later, the entire group was gathered in Vlad's secret underground lab in his Colorado house, all out of the Speeder (and both Danny and Danielle in human form).

Jack Fenton looked around with determination in his eyes. "Alright gang, let's split up and find the Fenton Fryer!"

Danny raised an eyebrow at his father. "Uh Dad, actually it's called the Plasmius Maximus," he corrected.

Jack just shook his head though with a grin. "Not anymore! I figure that since all of Vladie's stuff was used for evil we should start giving it new names now that we're using it for good. So now it's the Fenton Fryer—besides that's a much cooler name than Plasmius what's-it anyway!" He waved off his son.

Danny just rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smile.

"Ooo, the Plasmius Maximus? What's that, Danny?" asked Danielle eagerly suddenly from beside him.

Danny blinked and the smile dropped from his face. He swallowed hard…and finally accepted that he couldn't avoid explaining things to Danielle anymore. Not at this point. He had to explain the full situation to her. And so, with a sigh, Danny turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Uh…it's an invention Vlad made awhile ago and used on me once." He cleared his throat and did his best to put on a smile again. "Hey, Danielle, why don't we, uh, go look together. And then maybe we can catch up a li— "

Before he could finish his sentence though, Sam had grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to face her. She was scowling a little. "Uh, Danny, can I talk to you for a sec first?"

Danny blinked in confusion. "Uh…sure." He glanced back at his cousin. "Danielle, I'll help you look in just a second okay—WHOA!" Sam had sharply pulled him aside to a corner.

"Ouch!" yelled Danny, now off to the side with her and rubbing his arm. "What?" A look of annoyance came to his face in response to the actions of his girlfriend.

Sam crossed her arms over her chest, and imitated Danny during his conversation with Dora, " 'If you see me again, unless I'm with my friends and family, don't let me come here. Just keep your amulet around and cross your fingers that you can fight me off no matter what I say. And whatever you do, don't ask questions—it's a personal matter!' Danny what was that?" she finally had to ask in a firm tone.

Danny turned away, looking slightly guilty. "Oh come on Sam, I didn't say it like _that_, to Dora!"

Sam grabbed him and turned him around to her again though. "Danny, I'm serious—why didn't you tell Dora about Dark Danny? She's your friend—she would have helped you! Now she doesn't even know what she's supposed to be defending herself against! "

"She'll be fine, Sam!" Danny loosened himself from her grip. "She's a really powerful ghost and she's got Youngblood and Dexter to help her! Besides, I…I…" he seemed to be searching for an excuse, "I just…didn't want to tip my hand just yet about knowing about Dark Danny just in case he was listening in. And also I…don't want to get Clockwork in trouble with the Observants…you know, since he kind of told us about Dark Danny and we're in the Ghost Zone now…" He shrugged a little.

Sam just rolled her eyes though. "Danny, _hello_! Clockwork basically _told_ you to tell everyone you can about Dark Danny since he can't do it himself, and besides I'm pretty sure that since Dark Danny knows that Clockwork escaped his attack AND that he 's got an idea that you know he's back!" She raised her hands in the air. "What's next, are you not going to bother to let Danielle know anything either? Just start running drills with her saying they're games and then tomorrow Vlad stops by and the next day Dark Danny comes by and she's gotta fight without a clue?" Sam knew she was being harsh but…this was serious! And secrets could not be afforded among the small group of people they could trust.

Danny scowled now himself, and gestured across the room in the direction of his cousin. "Hey, I was about to take Dani aside and explain things to her before you pulled me over here!" His anger suddenly made his eyes flash their ghostly green.

Sam instantly blinked at that sight and couldn't help the small trace of fear that quickly crossed her face: Danny's eyes had never glowed with anger at her before—at Dash or Vlad or his other enemies yes, but never at her. It was gone in a second though and then she shook her head to come out of her surprise and scowled at him, getting into his face. "Oh DO NOT use the ghostly eyes on me, Danny Fenton!"

At first, Danny had appeared ready to shoot a comeback back to Sam but then her words processed and he instantly blinked and then with a look of total shock (and almost fear) backed away from her as he processed the fact that his eyes indeed had just flashed like that at her.

She saw the look of shock in his face and an expression of concern came to hers. "Danny?" Her tone became softer. "Are you okay?" She reached out her hand to touch him.

Danny just swallowed hard and backed a little farther away from her. "Uh…I, I should go talk to Danielle…I'm, I'm sorry, Sam." And then he walked away, leaving a very concerned looking Sam Manson behind him.

* * *

"So Danny…" asked Danielle, hearing her cousin approach from behind her as she rummaged through a pile of ecto stuff. "Why are we looking for this Fenton Fryer thing again anyway? And…" she picked up some kind of contraption that she couldn't make heads nor tails of, "…what does it look like exactly?"

Danny took a breath and (with a slight cringe at the second part of his response since he knew it would bring a lot of big, obvious questions) answered her. "It's small and has a handle and two prongs, and it…shorts out half human half ghost powers."

Danielle stopped searching and raised an eyebrow at Danny. "But, why do you need something like _that_, Danny? I mean the only human/ghost hybrids on earth are you and me and we both need our powers."

Danny knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, looking in her eyes. "Exactly, _we_ both do. So it's not for us…" he sighed and glanced down and then looked back at her, "…It's for Vlad."

Danielle blinked and then her eyes took on a ghostly glow and a scowl came across her face. "Vlad? That traitor? Good—let's see how he handles living in space as a _human_ instead of as a ghost!" She folded her arms in front of her chest and smirked a little at the idea.

Danny let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes and continued with his explanation. "Danielle…it's not for Vlad in space. It's for Vlad…when we bring him back here. Tomorrow, or maybe tonight."

"But Danny," Danielle looked practically shocked now! "We can't _ever_ trust Vlad again! He held the world for ransom, and he's betrayed and tricked both of us—ALL of us!" She held out her arms, gesturing toward Danny's friends and family, who were starting to notice the conversation going on between the two halfas as they went on with their own mini searches through random piles of junk in the abandoned lab. "Why would you want to bring him back here, even if you _could_ short out his powers?" She looked up at Danny sincerely, pleading for a logical answer.

Danny took a deep breath again, glancing awkwardly at the faces of his friends and family obviously listening in with curiosity at this point to this delicate conversation. "Danielle, let's…let's go talk upstairs, okay?" He transformed into the Phantom.

Danielle looked at him with concern and confusion for a moment more but then she nodded and transformed as well, and then the two flew upwards together, phasing through the ceiling as they headed for one of the dusty rooms of the house to continue their conversation in.

Valerie looked with particular concern at the two ascending forms.

Then the former Phantom hunter glanced back at the other members of their party (who had started resuming their individual searches). "Um, I'm gonna…check upstairs…" she quickly said, and with that she scanned the room for a staircase leading up to the main house and, finding one, headed up (to Danny and Danielle, of course).

* * *

Upstairs (in Vlad's musty old living room with the tall backed plushy chairs and the fireplace, long out of use), Danny used a small ecto blast to light a couple of candles for light and then with a sigh turned to Danielle (who was sitting in one of those plushy chairs) and sat on the ottoman in front of her. He chose his words carefully for the young ghost girl. "Danielle…you remember how you said before when I was going to blast Youngblood and Poindexter that I shouldn't be so hasty? That I should give them another chance because I gave you another chance even though you did some bad stuff when we first met?" He smiled at her.

"But Danny," Danielle still looked at him hesitantly, still sounding in total disbelief not only at Danny's initial proposal of actually bring Vlad back to earth but now at how it sounded like he might actually be trying to apply the 'give someone who's messed up before another chance' logic to VLAD'S case! "Danny, it's _different_ with Vlad!" she protested! "He hasn't ever done anything good for anyone and he doesn't have any good inside of him at all! _All_ he's done is mess up and do bad things over and over no matter how many chances he gets!" She scowled in frustration.

Danny just let out a sigh and shook his head, his eyes shut, and then opened them to look at her once more. He spoke compassionately but firmly…because to be honest he wasn't bringing up the 'give everyone another chance' thing in support of Vlad right now…he was bringing it up in support of himself. "Danielle…I'm not talking about how what happened with you is why we should forgive Vlad…I'm talking about how what happened with you is…why you should forgive me…if you can." He tried a smile but it was hard.

Danielle blinked. "Danny…I don't understand."

Danny took a breath, glancing down as he spoke. "Danielle…I know you're still a little young and that to you it might seem like I'm the 'good guy' and Vlad's the 'bad guy', but…_I've_ made some mistakes too. That's why I had to take you with us, that's why we need to get Vlad—so that you both can help me fix a mistake that I made a while ago once and for all. I'm sorry Danielle, I really didn't want to put you in danger but…but if I can't fix this mistake I made then everyone's going to be in even bigger danger than Vlad, than the _Disasteroid _even." He looked up at her eyes again. "This is very very serious, Danielle."

Danielle was just watching him, taking everything in. Then she seemed to consider for a second, and then replied quietly… "But Danny, I still don't understand. _You've_ never done anything _really_ bad, not like Vlad. That's why Vlad hates you so much—because you're not like him." She smiled a little.

"Actually," Danny couldn't help the brief moment of levity to lighten the mood, "Vlad mostly hates me because I represent the physical embodiment of the bond between my Dad and the love of his life with ghost powers to boot…" He grinned and rolled his eyes.

Danielle glanced to the side and couldn't help but chuckle a little. "True."

Danny chuckled a little as well but then sighed once more and got back to what he had been trying to tell Danielle. "But seriously, Danielle—you know Clockwork, right?"

Danielle looked at him and nodded. "That time ghost with all the clocks? Sure."

Danny nodded back. "Okay, well...Danielle, not long ago something happened that was going to make me decide between the future we have now and a… 'different one'." Danny swallowed.

Danielle just waited patiently for him to continue.

"A-Anyway…" Danny went on, a pensive look on his face. "I found out about the 'different' future and went on a pretty big adventure to stop it from happening because it wasn't very good because of something I did. I managed to change it, but it took a lot and in the end the part of the future that I didn't like ended up existing outside of time. Clockwork offered to take care of it for me but…but it escaped recently, Danielle." Danny's face couldn't help but look guiltier and guiltier as he spoke. With a sigh he concluded, "And that's why I need your help along with Vlad's—to fight it and stop it from hurting anybody anymore." He looked her in the eyes.

Danielle hesitated, then spoke. "But Danny…you didn't mean for it to happen right? You made a mistake…but you fixed it. That's not your fault and it doesn't make you like Vlad." She smiled and a determined look came to her eyes. "So what and where's this thing from your mistake that needs a good butt kicking from us?" She punched her right hand into her left palm and floated up a bit off of the chair. "Who needs Vlad—you and me and Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie and Tucker and Sam and Valerie can definitely take care of it all on our own!" She was pumped.

Danny just cleared his throat though and stood up from his ottoman, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, um…I…first of all don't know _where_ 'the thing from my mistake' is Danielle but…I don't think you understand." He looked at her again, knowing he needed to make it clear. "Danielle, what this thing is…is a _he_. And _he's_ the combination of two ghost halves of two ghost-human hybrids…me and Vlad's ghost halves actually…" Danny saw Danielle descend back to sitting in the chair before him. He went on, looking back at her again… "A-And his name _used_ to be Danny Phantom…but now it's just Dark Danny…"

There was silence. Then…

"You…_You_ were the bad thing?" asked Danielle hesitantly.

Danny looked down sadly. "Yes…It's a long story, Danielle. I'd rather not go into it. But yeah—in a way we're fighting me after making the biggest mistake of my life." He looked back up at her.

Danielle paused and stayed that way for what felt like forever to Danny.

Suddenly though she stood up and wrapped her arms around him a big huh, "Danny…" she let out a breath, "…If it wasn't for you then I wouldn't even be here right now—in _a lot_ of ways…" She pulled back a little and smiled, recalling their last adventure when she had been permanently stabilized, and continued. "And in a way…since I'm your clone, you and me are the same person if you think about it, and so…that kind of makes our mistakes the same too." Danny was about to object but Danielle stopped him from interrupting by raising a hand, still smiling. "I'm just saying, Danny, that I'm a part of you so I'm connected to your life. Anyway, if there's something that you need help with then you can count on me, Danny…no matter what it is." She let her cousin go, just smiling up at him.

Danny finished taking in her words, and then a half smile came to his face and he looked lovingly and gratefully down at the small girl before him. He sighed after a couple of seconds though and reminded her, "Even if it means having to work with Vlad?"

Danielle just folded her arms in front of her chest, smiling mischievously. "Well, at least if he comes back here I won't have to _go into space_ to get back at him for all the nasty stuff he did to us."

Danny just chuckled, happy she was okay with everything.

"And so, the reason we have to find this Plasmius Maximus thing is to…" she started to ask just for clarification.

Danny smiled and filled her in specifically. "It's so that when he's here, we can short out his powers whenever we can't keep an eye on him, and use it as a threat in case he gets out of line."

Danielle grinned widely. "Awesome! Race ya back down to the lab to find it then!" Danielle suddenly then announced with a grin, and then she flew up and turned intangible and phased down into the floor.

"Hey!" Danny called playfully. He was about to turn intangible and fly after her…when he heard a sound at the other side of her room.

Valerie (who had been standing just outside of the doorway to the living room for most of this time actually, just in case she found herself needed) had tripped in the half-light of the abandoned cottage and was now on her knees the floor, coughing and covered with dust.

"Valerie?" Danny walked over to her, an eyebrow raised. "What are you doing up here?"

She stood up with a sheepish grin, brushing herself off. "Uh…would you believe checking Vlad's cupboard for that Plasmius thing?"

Danny gave her a skeptical look and grin, and she glanced downward and sighed. "Actually," she smiled, "I was gonna try and back you up in case Dani didn't handle the whole 'you having an evil twin' thing very well. But she seemed pretty okay with it. She's a cool little ghost girl." She smiled at Danny.

Danny blinked in surprise. "Uh…thanks Valerie." He smiled at her and went human.

"She really cares about you, doesn't she?" Valerie suddenly asked kindly and with a touch of amusement to her voice.

Danny sighed and nodded with a smile. "Yeah…She's a good kid."

There was an awkward moment of silence, and then Danny asked a question he had been wanting to know the answer to ever since this morning. "Uh Valerie? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure Fenton. What's on your mind?" She plopped down in an old, red armchair causing a cloud of dust to fly up that made her cough for a few seconds.

Danny cleared his throat to keep from laughing, then rubbed the back of his neck and finally asked, "Uh, well…does your Dad know that you're ghost hunting…uh, _helping_…that you're still doing ghost stuff? I mean, is he okay with you being here with us now?" He looked at her unsurely.

Valerie grinned, and sighed and rested her head on one of her hands. "Well actually, most of the stuff that I was doing for Plasmius after my Dad took my old suit and after the last Technus incident when I got my new suit, I was doing privately. After you saved the world from the Disasteroid though, I sat down with him and explained about how Vlad had been tricking me and how even though I didn't hate ghosts anymore I still wanted to be a part of Amity Park being safe. Actually, you coming out with your secret was really helpful—it was kind of the proof he needed that kids like us could actually handle ourselves in a ghost battle, especially if we work together."

Danny smiled at her words (and at the fact that he didn't have to worry about Mr. Gray suddenly popping up in an alleyway with one of Valerie's old ecto blasters to get his daughter away from the creepy ghost kid).

Valerie continued, standing up. "Besides, he's really happy with you now and how the whole Disasteroid thing brought Dalv industries down. His business got a chance to pick back up again and now he's doing better than ever."

"Glad to hear it," Danny replied sincerely. " And don't worry I'll make especially sure to keep Cujo and Technus away from him at all costs." He laughed and winked.

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Ah, just phase us back down to the lab so we can keep looking for this 'Fenton Fryer' thing, okay, ghost boy?"

With another laugh, Danny grabbed her arm, went ghost, and did as she asked with a smile.

* * *

Danny landed with Valerie back down in Vlad's lab.

Across the room, Sam noticed the event and scowled to herself. "What were _they_ doing up there?"

Tucker, who was searching near her, glanced up from the stuff he was rummaging through and shrugged his shoulders. "Fake out make out?" he suggested jokingly.

Sam whipped her head around glared at him. He backed off, holding up his hands defensively, "Kidding, kidding! She probably just helped him talk to Dani."

Sam turned away from the direction of Danny and Valerie, still looking displeased, and continued rummaging.

From across the room, Danny turned from Valerie and looked around at his friends and family and asked with hope, "Any luck, Team Phantom?"

Maddie sighed and looked over at her son as she stopped rummaging in her pile for a moment and put her hands on her hips. "I don't know Danny—Vlad had such an assortment of stuff down here…it looks like he used this place for storage mostly." She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Probably hasn't been out here since that whole Dalv science symposium scam…"

"What was that?" asked Jack, coming up for air from a pile of ecto junk.

Maddie blushed. "Uh, nothing, hun!"

"Hey, is this it!" yelled Jazz suddenly, pulling something out of a pile. However, in doing so she accidentally pressed a button and a ray came out of the device.

"DUCK!" yelled Danny, diving on Danielle. The beam just barely missed them. He took a deep breath. "_That_ was close!" He flew up form the floor and approached Jazz who looked sheepish. "Yeah, Jazz _that_ would be it. And I know you want to spend the next three hours knowing that Dark Danny's around and that me and Danielle are powerless but if it's all the same I think I'll just shove this in a thermos so that we don't end up taking any chances, okay?"

Jazz rolled her eyes and handed over the device to her little brother with a sheepish grin. "Okay, okay, sheesh—I make _one_ mistake…"

Danny glanced at the Plasmius Maximum for a few seconds before jamming it into a Fenton Thermos. It seemed that Vlad had been tinkering with it since their last encounter here: it now had a knob that could set the time that a halfa would lose his powers that ranged from one to twenty four hours. Danny smiled as he wedged it into the thermos. "Perfect."

Suddenly, Danny felt a small tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Danielle, smiling mischievously. He raised an eyebrow at her and then she whispered something in his ear. As she talked Danny began to grin wider and wider and to nod. When she was done he stood straight again. "Yes…that would please me." Danielle laughed, happy that her cousin liked her suggestion.

Danny and Danielle both turned to the group. Danny spoke with a grin. "Mom, Dad, everyone—we've got two more stops to make if that's alright. Danielle just had a very nice idea." He looked proudly at his cousin.

"Alright, the Fenton road trip continues!" yelled Jack and in his excitement he slammed his hand on the lab table. Unfortunately, doing so caused him to hit a button hidden under some rubbish.

Instantly, alarms blared and lights flashed. A computer-generated voice filled the air (and it sounded strangely like Maddie Fenton). "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! DETECTING UNAUTHORIZED NON-VLAD PLASMIUS GHOSTLY PRESENCES IN LAB AREA! PREPARE FOR ELIMINATION!" Suddenly, mechanical arms seized Danny and Danielle, and strapped them both to lab tables that suddenly appeared from the floors.

"Oh no, not again!" Danielle screamed in surprise.

Danny just scowled and rolled his eyes. "Plasmius!" he growled. He turned to his cousin. "Danielle, just change to human and it should let us go!"

Danielle and Danny changed back and instantly all alarms went off, the tables released them and they found themselves on their feet once more. They glared at Jack who looked sheepish. "Uh, sorry, kids—just excited about the Fenton road trip. Heh, heh."

Danny just shook his head and smiled. "That's alright, Dad. Anyway, come on, everyone..." He looked to the whole group. "We're going to get some directions from Frostbite."

Everyone said pretty simultaneously (but some with different reasons for doing so than others), "Frostbite?"

"You'll see," Danny smiled.

The humans then gathered into the Speeder while Danny and Dani stayed behind. Danny pressed the lab button to open the portal. The Speeder flew into the ghost zone and Danny and Danielle followed in its wake, turning Phantom just as they jumped into the Ghost Zone so that Vlad's alarms wouldn't go off again.

The deserted lab was as silent as ever when they left it…at least for a moment or two. Then a seemingly disembodied voice could be heard making a slow dark laugh. "They're going to get Vlad. How cute…This is going to be more fun than I thought."

A shadowy figure appeared to descend near the portal. "Tisk, tisk, tisk—how irresponsible," said the dark voice with a hint of sarcasm. "Leaving a portal open and unattended. I'll just have to close it for them to set an example." The figure reached a hand forward and with an ecto beam exploded the portal, causing smoke and debris to fill the air. It laughed to itself, and said in an almost playful voice, "One down, two to go…I can't wait to see my old arch foe."

A frightened growl like a whimper issued forth from a being suddenly coming out from behind the shadow of the figure. A chain connected them…like a leash.

The shadowy figure smiled, "Come along, my new pet—time to carve me a way back into Ghost Zone. What a convenient friend you turned out to be. I'm so glad my younger ghost half remembered you."

The chained figure coughed in a mixture of fear and pain. A single raspy word escaped its mouth before it hesitantly did its masters bidding… "Ayudame."

* * *

**A/N:**

Lol, yup, Dark Danny's first appearance ;) And I promise, one more chapter (only maybe possibly two) and we'll get to Vlad and I have LOTS of plans for him, and of course, Dark Danny will be making a few cameos until he shows up for real ;) And many other ghost friends and foes will be making cameos in this too ^_^

Review please and as always…

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


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